Hamptons Heat
by Caskett092313
Summary: Eight years after 2014; life for Rick, Kate & their friends are in the vein of functional chaos as the kids start another year of school. For the Castle kids it will be another year at their private prep school while the Ryan & Esposito kids spend another year in public school. Life definitely has a lot in store for Caskett & their friends in this third fanfiction. #Always
1. 1

1

It was the first day of school for the Castle kids, the Ryan kids and the Esposito kids just five days after Luke turned 8 years old on September 1st. In all three households the chaos that came with the first day of school was the status quo for that September 6th morning. Kids were getting dressed for school while breakfast was being made. Right before the kids left for school, the traditional first day of school pictures.

For the Castles, both Alexis and Martha came over to the loft to see the kids off. Alexis had gotten her Master's degree like she had planned to and had started her new job as a paralegal. She was now living with Phoenix in a Tribeca apartment. Martha also had a place of her own, a rent controlled apartment in Chelsea. Alexis had checked with her boss the night before if it was okay to come in a little later than normal since her siblings were starting school. Thankfully, Alexis's boss said it was okay since her kids were also starting school on the same day as all the other kids in the city. While the kids were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, Alexis and Martha waited in the living room.

"How's it going, guys?" Beckett called up to her son and daughters.

"Liam's hogging the bathroom." Harley called down.

"And we need to get in there." Aria said.

"Give him a minute more, while you girls get dressed."

"We're dressed already, Mom." Avery said.

Liam and Harley had turned ten years old back on Valentine's Day, they were starting the fifth grade today. Their younger sisters were nine years old and starting the fourth grade with Sarah Grace. Luke was starting the third grade. Lanie and Javi's daughter; Jillian, who was seven years old was going into the second grade. Jillian's little brother, Noah was a year younger and starting first grade.

Much like their sister; all four of the Castle kids were in private school. The Ryan kids and the Esposito kids were in public school.

"Hope you four are almost ready, Grams and I are getting bored down here." Alexis said trying to push her siblings' buttons.

"Relax Lex!" all four kids responded as Martha went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

"Sounds like the old days doesn't it?" Castle said.

"Yes it does." Beckett replied.

A few minutes later all four kids had finally come downstairs for breakfast.

"Well it's about time." Alexis commented.

Both sets of twins stuck their tongues out at their sister as they sat down at the island counter for breakfast.


	2. 2

2

"Come on, take the picture already!" the kids shouted.

The Castle kids were all in their school uniforms for their school, Miller – Hawley Prep. They getting quite impatient. First up was the group picture followed by both sets of twins together. Once that was taken care of each kid would have their individual first day of school picture.

With each picture taken the kids held a small wooden framed blackboard with writing on it in the traditional white chalk.

 _First Day of School_

 _Sept. 6_ _th_ _, 2022_

Since Liam was the odd one out in the group picture, he got to hold the chalkboard.

"Okay, I think we got it."

"Thank God." Avery said as she stepped away.

"Have fun." Aria said as she sat down on the couch.

Alexis and Martha shared a smile as they recalled all of the first days of school Alexis had over the years that had passed. As Rick got the second chalkboard ready before he erased the writing on the first chalkboard when Kate, Martha and Alexis took pictures with their phones.

 _First Day of 5_ _th_ _Grade_

 _Liam Trace & Harley Addallee_

 _Sept. 6_ _th_ _, 2022_

"Thank God, that's over." Liam said.

"Your turn." Harley said to her sisters.

Avery and Aria mottled through the picture taking like their siblings had.

 _First Day of 4_ _th_ _Grade_

 _Avery Johanna & Aria Martha_

 _Sept. 6_ _th_ _, 2022_

About a few minutes after that all of the picture taking was done and the twin sets were quite happy that it was. The twin sets left the loft with Alexis, who had offered to walk her siblings to school.

"You would think that by now they would be use to the first day of school routine." Castle said.

"Yeah you would think but then again they are 10 and 9 years old. No kid in their age group likes to have their picture taken." Beckett said.

The two of them stood in the kitchen and chatted with Martha for a bit before Kate got a call from the precinct when a case came up.

"Looks like we have a case." Beckett said as she showed Rick her phone.

"Alright, we'll see you later; Mother."

Shortly after Kate and Rick left for the precinct; Martha left the loft as well; locking it up behind her on the way out.

Javi, Kevin and Lanie would meet their friends at the crime scene after they got their kids to school.


	3. 3

3

Once the school year was in full swing the kids would have the opportunity to try out for the sports their schools offered. It was pretty much already predetermined that Liam, Harley, Avery and Aria were going to try out for their school's baseball and softball teams due to half of their DNA so to speak. Fencing was also in the cards for the twin sets. Basketball was the one sport that Luke and Noah were going out for when the time came. Jillian and Sarah Grace opted to go out for the cheer squad at school while they continued to taking the dance classes they had been in for some time now.

Rick was still getting use to Alexis living with Phoenix. But at least this time he liked the guy his daughter was involved with. After Alexis graduated from Columbia University and she went onto do her grad work for her Master's Degree at Pace University, she hadn't seen her ex-boyfriend or the other two that were involved with turning her world upside down a number of years ago. Everyone could sense that at some point, Phoenix was going to propose since they had been together for years. Early on in their relationship one of the decision that Phoenix and Alexis had made was that they were going to wait until they were married to take the next step in the physical side of their relationship.

Before long the school day had come to an end. Martha kept an eye on her grandkids until their parents got home from work that night. Once Rick and Kate were home, Martha would head out to see a play. When Rick and Kate had walked into the loft that night, the kids were scattered between the living room and the kitchen island counter where they were working on their homework. Of course when the kids got home from school earlier, they wasted no time when it came to getting out of their school uniforms.

"Welcome home darlings." Martha said.

Kate and Rick said hello to their kids before they thanked Martha for keeping an eye on the kids for them.

"So how was your first day back?" Castle asked after Martha had said her goodbyes.

"It was good." Harley answered as she pushed back some of her light brown hair.

"It was okay." Liam replied.

"It was great." Avery responded.

"Yeah what she said." Aria said.

With the catch up out of the way, Rick and Kate helped the kids with their homework before they sat down to dinner together.


	4. 4

4

The kids took care of the clean - up following dinner that night. Rick and Kate relaxed on the couch with a glass of red wine in hand while the kids cleaned up. Homework had been completed just minutes before dinner was ready that night. Over dinner, the conversation had flowed quite well.

"So what activities are you guys looking into?" Beckett asked.

"Baseball for me." Liam answered.

"Softball for us." Harley said as she pointed to herself and her sisters.

"Told you so." Castle said to his wife.

Kate just looked at Rick in the same way she had always looked at him when he was being a smart ass. The kids pretty much knew what their Dad was insinuating with his last remark to their Mom.

"Baseball isn't the only thing that's in us, Daddy." Aria said.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, we're also going out for the fencing team." Avery chimed in.

The opportunity had presented itself for Kate to reverse the table on Rick just to give him a taste of his own medicine so to speak.

"Told you so." Beckett said.

A smile came to Kate's face after she got her jab in.

Rick just smirked at his wife as he stabbed a piece of asparagus on his plate. The conversation continued on as Rick asked the kids about the classes they had that day. After raising Alexis who had been so academically inclined throughout the course of her academic career, Rick had been quite curious to see if the twin sets would follow in their sister's footsteps when it came to school or if they'd carve their own path.

Shortly after dinner had been completely cleaned up, the kids had retreated to their bedrooms before they went to bed. They each took turns taking showers and doing the rest of their bedtime routine. Rick and Kate would go into each of the kids' rooms to say goodnight to each of them before they went to bed themselves.


	5. 5

5

Before long Phoenix decided that it was time to make the next move. So with that in mind, Phoenix called Rick one afternoon while he was on his lunch break at work. Phoenix wanted to do things the right way.

"Mr. Castle, can we meet up for a cup of coffee?" Phoenix asked.

Sensing the urgency in Phoenix's request.

"Sure. When did you want to meet?" Castle responded.

"How about five minutes from now at the Starbucks near Columbia?"

"Sounds good. See you in a bit."

With that taken care the two of them ended their call.

"What was that all about?" Beckett asked as they stood in front of the murder board.

"That was Phoenix."

"Obviously. What did he want?"

"He asked to meet up for coffee."

"Ah I see."

"What do you see?" Castle asked as they went back to Kate's desk.

"Coffee isn't why Phoenix wants to meet up with you, babe."

"Do you think that he's going to?"

"Yes I do. They have been together for a long time now."

Rick mulled that over. He wasn't sure if he was ready for his little girl to get married.

"Just breathe, babe. Give Phoenix our okay and remember she may be getting married but she'll always be your little girl. Besides you still have Harley, Avery and Aria. It will be quite some time before they get married."

"Okay." Castle said as he stood up and picked up his coat before heading over to the elevator.

"Say hello to Phoenix for me." Beckett called after Rick.

Rick waved back to Kate which told her that he would relay the message.

"Where is he running off to?" the boys asked Kate when they had noticed Rick's departure.

"He's going to give Phoenix his okay to marry Alexis."

"Wow." the boys said in unison.

"You can say that again. It seems like it was just yesterday when Alexis came here for the first time."

The boys nodded in agreement. It kind of seemed like Alexis grew up too fast for them.


	6. 6

6

"What did you want to ask me, Phoenix?" Castle asked.

"I wanted to ask you if I could marry Alexis." Phoenix replied.

For a brief moment, Rick was completely stunned even though he knew this was coming.

"Mr. Castle…"

"Yes, sorry. I was just a bit taken aback by this."

"Well that's completely understandable, but know this; I love Alexis with my whole heart."

"That's good to know."

"So what do you say, can I marry your daughter?" Phoenix asked again.

"Yes, Phoenix. You can marry Alexis."

"Thank - you sir."

Once Phoenix got the okay from Rick, there was one thing that Phoenix wanted Rick to know and help with.

"Sir, if it's not too much of an inconvenience or anything; but I'd like to propose to your daughter at yours and Mrs. Castle's anniversary party." Phoenix said.

"It's not an inconvenience at all and I am sure that Kate wouldn't mind either."

"That's good. I'd also like to ask you to keep this whole thing a secret from Alexis. I would like to surprise her with the proposal."

"Will do."

After that, the two of them parted ways. As he left Starbucks and headed back to work, Phoenix started to plan the proposal. Phoenix knew that he wanted to propose at his future in-law's impending anniversary party. All Phoenix knew was that he had a lot of work to do. First off he had to get the ring at least one of the rings before he got down on one knee.

Back at the precinct, Rick was getting off of the elevator. Kate caught the first sighting of her husband when he stepped off of the elevator and was heading over to Kate's desk.

"So how did it go?" Beckett asked.

"It went well."

"Is Phoenix going to?"

"I gave him the green light so I assume that it will happen any day now."

Kate nodded as she processed everything.

The day continued on after that until everyone went home for the night. At the dinner table that night at the Castle household, Rick and Kate told the kids that Phoenix was planning on proposing to their sister. Over the years, Liam and the girls had gotten quite close to Phoenix. So when they heard the news that Phoenix would a part of the family, they were beyond ecstatic.


	7. 7

7

The days that followed Phoenix asking Rick if he could marry Alexis had passed by quite fast. Rick and Kate's anniversary party was that night at the 40/40 club in Chelsea. All of their guests would go to the club for the party. Rick and Kate would show up with the kids around the time of when the party was supposed to start.

Martha had bought party outfits for the four musketeers to wear that night. When the time had come to leave for the party it wasn't that easy to get four kids under the age of thirteen out of the loft on scheduled.

"Happy Anniversary!"

The room erupted with the guests shouting the sentiment when Rick and Kate walked in. Once the guests of honor were seated along with their kids, the dinner portion of the party was in full swing. The conversation at the table flowed freely. At one point, Rick noticed how antsy Phoenix was. Kevin and Javi also noticed how antsy Phoenix was.

"We were all like at one point." Castle said to Kevin and Javi.

"Maybe the two of you, not me." Javi said.

"Sure bro." Kevin responded.

Phoenix waited a bit longer before he mustered up enough gumption to propose. When the moment had finally come, Phoenix tapped his fork on the side of his drink and cleared his throat as the group turned their attention to Phoenix.

"Sorry everyone for interrupting the conversation, but there is something that I have to do before the festivities come to an end." Phoenix said as he stood up.

Curiosity was getting the better of Alexis as she turned her seat to face Phoenix.

"Now as most of you know, Alexis and I have been together for a number of years now."

The group nodded.

"So Alexis, it seemed like the time was perfect for me to do this."

"Do what?" Alexis asked as Phoenix got down on one knee and pulled out the engagement ring he had purchased.

Before Phoenix said anything else; Rick, Javi, Kevin and the Captain took their spouse's hand in theirs as they all watched from their seats.

"Alexis Harper Castle, will you marry me?" Phoenix asked.

There was a bit of silence as Alexis mulled over her response to Phoenix's question. Everyone waited with bated breath for Alexis's answer.


	8. 8

8

The room that everyone was in for Rick and Kate's anniversary party were still on the edge of their seats. Alexis knew that Phoenix along with everyone else wanted her to answer and soon. She also knew that Phoenix was hoping that she was going to say yes. Rick, Kate and Martha were leaning to Alexis saying yes.

"Well kiddo, we're not getting any younger here." Martha chimed in just to break the silence.

"I'm getting to it, Grams."

"Come on, Lex; before our next birthday." Liam and Harley said.

"Yeah come on!" Avery and Aria echoed.

"Relax guys."

With that Alexis took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She had been a bit antsy between the surprise proposal from Phoenix and having everyone watch her.

"So what do you say, Alexis?" Phoenix asked.

"Yes, Phoenix Christopher Matthews, yes. I will marry you."

Just as Phoenix got up to his feet and he shared a kiss with Alexis, everyone else in the room cheered when they heard Alexis's answer. Once the newly engaged couple parted from each other, they were instantly enveloped by Alexis's family.

"Welcome to the family." Beckett said.

"Welcome to the family, son." Castle said after his wife.

"Congratulations darlings." Martha said.

As Alexis and Phoenix were bombarded congratulatory hugs from Alexis's siblings, Martha was already planning her granddaughter's wedding. Rick could see the look in his daughter's eyes that told him that she was a bit concerned that Martha was going to go overboard with all of the planning.

"Mother, why don't we cool it on the wedding planning for a bit. They just got engaged and its kind of our anniversary." Castle said.

"Oh fine." Martha replied.

A minute or so later everyone return to their seats around the table and the festivities resumed. As Alexis continued to eat the entrée she had ordered a thought crossed her mind in regards to her impending wedding. Alexis knew full well that a certain Malibu resident would reappear in Manhattan once word got over to Malibu about the wedding. It was in that brief moment that Alexis need a refill on the wine she had ordered at the beginning of the party.


	9. 9

9

Alexis had kept in touch with Ryder, Aspen and Rowan after they had all graduated from Columbia University years prior. So over the weekend following her parents' anniversary party and their anniversary, Alexis decided to initiate a video call with her friends so she could tell them about her engagement.

"What's going on, Alexis?" Aspen asked once the video call was underway.

"Not too much…"

"Something is going on; you haven't stopped smiling since this call started." Rowan said.

"Spill Lex." Ryder said.

"Let's just saying something big happened a few days ago."

"You and Phoenix are having a baby."

"No, we're not."

"Then what?"

Alexis didn't say a word. Instead she held up her left hand so that the girls could see the engagement ring. At first the girls were absolutely stunned when they first saw the ring.

"He didn't?

"No way."

"Can't believe he did."

"Well believe it, you guys. Phoenix proposed."

"When did he?"

"A couple of days ago."

"At your parents' anniversary party?"

"Yeah."

"Has your grandmother started planning your wedding yet?"

"She started to at the anniversary party."

"Started to?"

"Dad interceded before things got too out of control."

"That's good."

With that Alexis and the girls talked some more. Alexis told them that the only way she thought of keeping Martha from planning the ceremony and reception was for her to recruit her parents. Midway through the video call, Phoenix walked into the apartment. Rowan, Ryder and Aspen all took turns congratulating Phoenix on the engagement. Soon after that the video call ended and Alexis had opted to take a bubble bath. When she was in the bathroom she dropped one of the bath bombs she had gotten on her last trip to LUSH.

"Which one are you using, Lex?"

"This one." Alexis answered as she held up the bath bomb she had chosen to use.

"Oh…"

"I knew you'd say that."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

After Alexis answered Phoenix, things livened up a bit. Once the bath bomb had diffused in the bath water, the two lovebirds stepped into the bath.


	10. 10

10

All of the entertainment shows on tv had gotten wind of the latest bit of celebrity news. They were all running with it. Before long; everyone in the country was going to know the celebrity news that E! News, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight already knew. By 11pm that night, everyone on the East Coast knew the news. The West Coast inhabitants would be finding out in a second.

"Next up on E! News; Alexis Castle has something big in the works. That report and more when we come back."

Meredith had been half listening to the night's broadcast of E! News since she wasn't in it and it didn't really concern her. But the second she heard her daughter's name before the commercial break, things had changed. While waiting for the show to come back on, Meredith had grabbed the house phone to call her ex as soon as she could.

"Alexis Castle and long-time boyfriend, Phoenix; are tying the knot. The two twenty-eight year olds met during their time at Columbia University. Alexis Castle is the daughter of mystery writer extraordinaire Richard Castle, NYPD Homicide Detective Katherine Beckett and actress Meredith Castle." the reporter said.

Everyone knew the story behind Alexis having two mothers by now. The report continued on a bit more. Meredith on the other hand was already dialing the phone number of her former residence despite the time difference.

It was around 2am back east in Manhattan. The entire loft was absolutely silent. All four kids had gone to bed hours ago. Rick and Kate had just turned in for the night about three hours prior when the house phone rang incessantly.

"Will you get that, babe?"

"Can't you?" Castle asked.

"Rick, the phone is next to you. Not me. Get it before the kids wake up." Beckett said.

With that Rick very reluctantly rolled over to answer the phone. In his half-awake state, Rick saw who was calling on the caller id.

"Do you know what time it is?"

At this point, Kate's interest was piqued as she woke up.

Rick pulled the mouth piece of the cordless phone away as the person on the other end bent his ear with her incessant talking. "Deep fried Twinkie."

That was all Kate needed to hear from husband to know who had woken them up at 2am.


	11. 11

11

While tried to iron things out with his ex-wife when it was more within the realm of being within a normal hour instead of 2am, Alexis was in the middle of an impromptu mini engagement lunch. Ryder, Rowan and Aspen had put together the get together on the whim. Along with the three of them and Alexis at the lunch, the girls had made sure to have the other people that were in Alexis's life at the lunch.

As everyone was finishing up the appetizers, Alexis was opening the engagement gifts. The gifts that Alexis was in the middle of opening was from her friends that were there with everyone. In each of the gift bags from Ryder, Rowan and Aspen were two things. A sexy little negligée from Victoria's Secret and a bath bomb from LUSH that went by the moniker Sex Bomb.

"Really guys?" Alexis said to her friends.

"Yes really, Lex." Rowan answered.

Everyone else at the table was wondering what was in the gift bags since Alexis hadn't pulled the gifts out like she had with some of the prior gifts.

"But why now? This could've waited until the wedding day."

"It's better to be prepared now than then." Ryder said.

"What did they get her?" Jenny asked.

"Well my guess is some lingerie, dear." Martha chimed in.

"Oh there's more than just lingerie in those bags." Lanie said.

In the moment, Alexis was slowly starting to match hers and her grandmother's hair color.

"They also got her a little something from that store that makes fresh handmade cosmetics." Beckett said.

"That explains why she's blushing."

"Thank you guys." Alexis said to her friends as she set the gift bags on the floor beside her.

As she moved on to the next gift, Alexis tried her best to silence the part of her that was completely embarrassed from getting gifts from her friends in front her soon to be mother in law, Kate and Martha.

At one point while the ladies waited for their entrees to come, Martha excused herself from the table to visit the ladies' room after she had finished her cocktail.

"Relax, kiddo; it's not like the rest of us haven't gotten gifts like that before. There's no need to worry, we've all done it." Martha said to her granddaughter as she made her way to the ladies' room.

"Thanks Grams."

Shortly after Martha returned to the table, the entrees had arrived and the engagement lunch continued on without a hitch at all.


	12. 12

12

By the time Kate had gotten home from Alexis's impromptu engagement gathering, she saw that Rick was still on the phone with Meredith. The kids were working on their homework at the dining room table. Martha had gone to talk to her real estate agent about the apartment she was going to rent.

"How is everything going?" Beckett asked as she kissed each of her kids on the top of their head.

"It's all good, Mom." Liam answered.

"Did Gina call?"

"Nope." Harley replied.

"Paula?"

"It's not Paula, mommy." Aria said.

"Then who?" Beckett asked.

"Daddy is still on the phone with Meredith." Avery responded.

Kate rolled her eyes. Before she had left for the thing for Alexis, Kate saw Rick pick the house phone up to call his ex-wife back. She just didn't expect the phone call to go this long. From what Kate could tell, the phone call with Meredith was verging on raising Rick's stress levels to the max. As Kate listened in on the phone call Rick was in the middle of, Kate knew that they had to sit down with the twin sets soon to explain why their sister had two moms when they only had Kate as their mom.

"What do you mean by that? Alexis is an adult. She's twenty-eight and if she wants to marry Phoenix then she is going to." Castle said.

The phone call continued on in a back and forth way that it had been for a while after that before Rick hung up. Once he was off of the phone with his ex-wife, Rick poured himself a glass of wine. Kate had left the bottle out for him after she poured herself some.

"That bad, huh?" Beckett asked.

"With the Deep Fried Twinkie, always. But it was worse this time."

"Deep Fried Twinkie?" the twin sets questioned in unison.

Rick and Kate shared a look.

"That's another thing we have to explain to them."

"And the other thing?" Castle asked.

"Alexis having Meredith and me as her moms etc."

"Oh."

"Alexis should be around when we tell them."

"Agreed."

"What is a Deep Fried Twinkie?" the twin sets asked.

"We'll explain that when you guys are older."

With that the kids went back to their homework.


	13. 13

13

While Rick was making dinner that night, Kate called Alexis up to see when she was able to come over to the loft. The kids were watching tv in the living room as they waited for dinner. They had finished their homework just before Martha came home. When Martha had come into the loft she had announced that she had found a place to live. It wouldn't be long before Martha moved out of the loft.

"So your we're going to sit down with your sisters and brother to talk to them about you having two moms." Beckett said.

"Okay…" Alexis replied.

"Your Dad and I want you to be here when we talk to them."

"You want to know when I am free."

"Pretty much."

"Let me look."

Alexis flipped through her schedule while Kate swiped a bit of the alfredo sauce on a piece of the Italian bread they had from the pot while Rick was working on getting the grilled chicken ready to cook as the water boiled for the fettucine pasta.

"Hey." Castle said.

Kate just smirked and kissed her husband on the cheek as she walked away.

"Did you just snag some of whatever Dad is making for dinner?" Alexis asked.

"Yes."

"Somethings never change."

"So how are things looking?" Beckett asked.

"It looks like I have a free day on Friday."

"Okay that works."

"Sounds good."

"Go show Phoenix what you got at the party, I'm sure he'll appreciate what your friends got you." Beckett said.

"Thanks Mom."

Kate could hear her daughter blushing as she answered.

"See you Friday.

"See you guys, Friday."

Once Kate was off of the phone she told Rick that Alexis was coming over on Friday so all of them could talk to the kids. When the kids heard that Alexis was coming, they cheered. It wasn't long after that was said that dinner was ready to be eaten.


	14. 14

14

"So how was your impromptu engagement lunch that the girls did for you?" Phoenix asked once he had a moment with Alexis.

"It had its moments." Alexis replied.

"How so?"

"Let's just say that Rowan, Ryder and Aspen got me things for our wedding night."

"Such as?" Phoenix pressed as the curiosity got the better of him.

"Take a look for yourself."

Phoenix took the gift bags from his fiancé and looked inside.

"Oh…."

"Exactly."

"And you said that Kate and Martha were there besides your friends, Lanie and Jenny."

"Yeah, they were."

"I can see the awkwardness in the situation now."

"Yeah and it only got worse when Grams decided to tell me not be such stick in the mud since I was in the company of women besides herself who have done the deed."

"Okay."

Alexis just shook her head before she told Phoenix that she would be going over to the loft to talk to her siblings about the whole thing of her having more than one mom. When Phoenix and Alexis decided to order in for dinner that night, they chose what they wanted to have before they ordered it.

Once the food was ordered, Phoenix turned to Alexis. "Can't wait for our honeymoon."

"I knew you'd say that." Alexis said.

Within the hour, the delivery guy from the restaurant they had ordered dinner from had delivered their food. After the delivery guy left, the duo sat down to dinner.

"I think we should do engagement pictures." Alexis said.

"Okay…"

Dinner continued on after that.


	15. 15

15

A number of days later, Alexis was heading over to her childhood home to help her parents explain things to her sisters and brother. The kids were beyond excited that Alexis was coming over. In a couple of days, Phoenix and Alexis would be heading down to New Orleans like they did every year since their first trip down there during their college years.

"Can you guys take a seat on the couch?" Beckett asked the kids.

"Yeah sure, Mommy." Avery said.

"What's going on?" Liam asked.

"We just want to talk you four about something and see if you have any questions." Alexis answered.

"What do you want to talk to us about?" Harley asked.

"We wanted to tell you that Meredith is also Alexis's mom just like Mommy is Alexis's Mom."

The twin sets looked at their Dad with looks of absolute confusion after he had said what he did.

"How can that be?" Aria questioned.

In that moment; Kate, Rick and Alexis shared a look. None of them knew how they would go about this next part of the talk.

"Well…."

"Ah…."

Rick and Kate were trying their best to find the right way to put it that Rick had been married two times before he had married Kate. That was when Alexis took the conversation over.

"Dad was married two times before he married Mom." Alexis said.

"He was?"

"Yes he was."

"Who else was Daddy married to?"

"Dad was married to Meredith before she moved out to Malibu."

"He was?"

"Yeah he was."

After that, Alexis had finished explaining things to her siblings. Once they understood everything Alexis headed back home. Of course the kids reminded Alexis on her way out of the loft to bring them home a souvenir from the Crescent City. Alexis promised that she would.

An Uber car ride later and Alexis was back at her apartment. Phoenix would be home from running errand in a few minutes. While she waited for her fiancé to return, Alexis started packing for their trip to New Orleans.


	16. 16

16

Things were never dull at the Castle loft or in the city. Kate, Rick and the boys had been working on a homicide that was leading them in a million different directions at once. The victim had left behind a wife and a newborn. After chasing down a possible lead, the team had learned that the victim was likely a part of building a dirty bomb to use somewhere in the city. Since there was the possibility of a dirty bomb being set off in the city, the feds came in to work the case. Outside of the precinct when it came to their families, precautions were taken to insure the safety of their loved ones.

After stepping on the elevator to get his mother and kids out of the city; Rick saw his wife trying to get a hold of her Dad while their friends made sure that their families were safe in case something happened with the dirty bomb. Technically speaking Rick should leave the city with his mother, kids and soon to be son in law since he was only a civilian consultant with the 12th. But there was nothing in the world that would separate Richard Castle from his wife. Besides both Rick and Kate knew that their kids were in good hands, Martha would do just about anything to keep her grandkids safe.

Kate was able to get through to her Dad.

"Dad, I need you to get out of the city. There is something that is going on that may end up bad."

"If that's the case, Katie; you should come too."

"I can't. I am needed here. Go to the house in the Hamptons, Rick is sending his mother, the kids, Alexis and Phoenix there."

While Kate was on the phone with her Dad, Kevin and Javi were making arrangements for their loved ones to getaway to safety. Since it was mandatory that all employees at the medical examiner's office stay on duty in this situation, Lanie was unable to leave with her and Javi's kids. With that factored in, Jenny was tasked with getting herself and four kids out of the city.

At the loft, Martha was with all five of her grandkids and Phoenix. It didn't take her long to notice the concern on her son's face when he had walked in. Phoenix was working on a craft with the kids while Alexis and Martha talked in the living room.

"Look, I need you girls to do something for me. But I don't want you to ask any questions. I want you to go to the Hamptons, I want you to stay there for the weekend." Castle said.

Now Alexis and Martha had somewhat of an idea of what was going on with the case that Rick and Kate were in the middle of. Even Phoenix had somewhat of an idea, but the kids were none the wiser.

"Richard, what is this about?" Martha asked.

"See, that…that's a question. Look, there might be a…an event…that will make it very dangerous to stay in the city. What are you doing?"

"Calling Phoenix's family."

"Okay."

After that, Rick helped his family get ready to go to the Hamptons. Kate had sent him a text saying that her dad was also heading to the Hamptons. Rick told his mother and Alexis to expect Jim once they arrived in the Hamptons.

"Be careful Dad, both you and mom be careful." Alexis said as she kissed her dad goodbye on the cheek.

Alexis and Phoenix walked out of the loft with Alexis's siblings after that. Phoenix's family was also making their way to the house in the Hamptons.

"Be safe, darling. Get yourself and Katherine to the Hamptons as soon as possible."

"We'll try our best." Castle said as his mother left.

Shortly after that, Rick returned to the 12th.


	17. 17

17

After getting back to the precinct, Rick saw that things had picked up in his absence. It looked as if Kate, the boys and the Feds had found the possible location of where the dirty bomb maybe. It was then that a game plan was set in place. Kate and Rick took one part of the city while the Feds took the other part of the city. Rick convinced Kate to take a different route through Broadway.

"What makes you think that this will lead us to the bomb?" Beckett asked.

"One the traffic and this leads to one of the most populated places on the island." Castle responded.

Shortly after that, they had pulled up on the bomb which had been sitting in a white economy van. Rick and Kate tried to get help from the Fed that was working with them but that got them nowhere. They didn't have much time left on the bomb's timer, so Rick mustered up the courage to pull all of the wires that were on the bomb.

"Oh God, it worked." Beckett said.

"You sound surprised."

"A bit."

Hours later after the Feds had packed up and left, Kate and Rick sat down in one of the conference rooms in the precinct to unwind with their friends before they all parted ways for the night. When the festivities had died down, the group parted. Kevin, Javi and Lanie went to where Jenny had gone with the kids in Upstate New York. Captain Montgomery went up to his in-laws' house since that was where he had sent his wife and kids. Kate and Rick headed to the Hamptons.

An hour or so later, Rick and Kate were reunited with their family like their friends had been with their families within seconds of their departure. When Rick and Kate had found their respective parent in the living room talking to each other.

The twin sets were in bed for the night. Phoenix and Alexis were up in their room which was at the opposite end of the house on the second floor. When the two of them were up in the room, Alexis had set her Iphone on the clock charging station and played a certain song from 2015.

"Dear Future Husband? Really Lex?" Phoenix questioned.

"Yes, kind of fitting with this…" Alexis replied as she held her left hand with the engagement ring on it.

"Okay."

With that, Phoenix kissed his fiancé on her head as they unwound from the chaotic day they had been through.


	18. 18

18

After everything that had transpired with the dirty bomb case, everyone had opted to stop and smell the flowers so to speak. It was instances like the dirty bomb that made Kate, Rick and their friends along with their family realize that life short. That things can change in an instant. They all knew that tomorrow was never a guarantee.

At the loft, the twin sets were all over the place. Liam was playing video games in the living room while his twin was perusing the vast collection of books their family had on the shelves. Avery and Aria were coloring at the dining room table. Now the kids knew that the collection of books were a mixture of their Dad's published works as well as the books he had liked, their Mom's favorite books which of course included her own copies of the Derrick Storm and Nikki Heat series. The other books on the shelves were copies of the books that Alexis had to read throughout her academic career.

Harley came across a book that had a bird on it and had a paperback binding that was a light purple. Rick and Kate noticed that their daughter was interested in the book. They watched what she did from the island counter where they had been drinking coffee together. Harley took the book off of the shelf and read the front of the book.

 _To Kill A Mockingbird_

 _Harper Lee_

After reading the title and author of the book in her hands, Harley looked up at the shelf once again to see a second book written by the same author.

 _Go Set A Watchman_

"Did you see something that you want to read, Harles?" Castle asked.

"I think so."

"That's good." Beckett chimed in.

Harley made her way to the island counter with the books in hand.

"The author has the same name as Lex." Harley said.

"Well yes, Ms. Lee had the same middle name as your sister. But in all actuality your sister's middle name is from Meredith's maiden name." Castle said.

"Had?"

"Yes, sweetie. Harper Lee passed away back in February of 2016." Beckett said.

"Oh."

"Which of her books did you want to read first?"

Harley held up _To Kill A Mockingbird_. "This one, Daddy."

"Okay."

After that, Harley went back to the living room to start reading _To Kill A Mockingbird_. Rick and Kate watched the picture perfect scene before them in the living room.

* * *

For the late Harper Lee; author of the two books mentioned in this chapter. Thank you Ms. Lee for inspiring so many of us with your words. You will truly be missed by the world. Rest In Peace. #RIPHarperLee


	19. 19

19

"It's quite understandable that you're nervous. Getting married is a big step. It was for both of us."

Alexis, Martha and Kate were having breakfast together one morning at one of the city's many places to eat. All three ladies had a cup of coffee in front of them along with what they had decided to have for breakfast.

"You guys were nervous. I can't see that." Alexis said.

"I was." Beckett commented in between bites.

"As was I, kiddo."

"Okay don't get me wrong, but I can't see it considering the history for both of you."

Kate and Martha looked at their younger counterpart.

"Let's look at the facts before us. Mom you married Dad as soon as you two got back from getting the guy that killed Royce since you were pregnant with Harley and Liam."

"Yes, I know what happened. It still doesn't mean that I wasn't as nervous as you are."

"And if were so nervous when it came to you marrying your ex-husband, Grams; why didn't you listen what your nerves were telling you? You would still have your money." Alexis said.

"Darling in case you haven't already gathered from your own experience with Phoenix along with the front row seat for your parents' relationship you would know that nerves get pushed aside when love is involved." Martha said.

The ladies talked some more over their breakfasts. Before they knew it they had additional company. Rick joined the ladies after he had dropped the twin sets off at school and picked up the tickets he had asked his ticket broker to get for him.

"Ladies, I have some news to share with you."

"Richard, can't you see we're in the middle of something here." Martha said.

"But I…." Castle started to say.

"Babe, just give it a minute or two then you can share your news with us."

The ladies continued their conversation, Alexis noticed that her Dad pouting like a two year old who didn't get his way.

"He's just going to keep pouting until he gets what he wants." Alexis said when she had the chance.

With that being put out there, the ladies let Rick say what he came to say. He showed them the tickets to the Billy Joel concert he was planning on taking Kate to along with their friends. Rick had figured that they all could use a break from parenthood at least for one night. Once that was taken care of, Rick left the ladies to finish up their breakfast get together. It had dawned on Rick as he was leaving that he could possibly get backstage passes for the Billy Joel concert. So when he got back to the loft, Rick would see if his ticket broker could get the backstage passes for him.


	20. 20

20

There was a busy week ahead for everyone. In the middle of all the wedding planning, there was two functions that were mandatory attendance for both. First up was the fundraiser being held by the 12th precinct for the NYPD Widows & Orphan fund. The second was a banquet dinner for the Johanna Beckett Scholarship. Now it was determined that the eight younger kids between the Castles, the Ryans and the Espositos didn't have attend the fundraiser, but they had to attend the banquet dinner. Both events were black tie affairs.

Arrangements were made for the kids to be looked after when it came to the night of the fundraiser. The Castle twin sets were being watched by Jim. Lanie and Javi's duo were being watched by Lanie's parents who happened to be in town at the moment. Then finally the Ryan twosome were watched by of their uncles on their mom's side.

The night of the fundraiser came, Rick and Kate were getting ready to go while the kids waited for their grandfather to show up. Kate was in the master bathroom finishing up her hair while Rick was tying his bowtie.

"What's going on with, Lex and Phoenix? Are they meeting us at the fundraiser; babe?" Beckett asked.

"From what Alexis told me, they are taking an Uber to the fundraiser."

Kate then came out of the bathroom. "Okay."

Rick was absolutely speechless when he laid eyes on his wife.

"Wow." Castle managed to say.

"Its good to know that after four kids I can still stun you."

"Four kids or not, you will always stun me. Always."

Kate smiled.

Once the shock wore off for Rick, he asked Kate to make sure everything was good as far as how he looked before they left their bedroom. In Rick's opinion, was as gorgeous as ever in the black dress she had gotten for tonight's event. And Kate was always loved seeing Rick look so dapper in his tuxedo. As Kate straightened Rick's bowtie they both heard her dad come into the loft and the kids talking Jim's ear off.

A short while later, Rick and Kate were walking into the event hall that was hosting the fundraiser for the NYPD. The others were already inside and were at the table that was reserved for them. Alexis and Phoenix had arrived just moments before her parents had.

"Looks like a good turnout for this." Castle said as he pulled a chair out for Kate to sit in.

"Yeah it does, bro."

After that; Kate fielded compliments from Lanie, Jenny and the Captain's wife as Rick took the seat next to Kate.

Not long after that, Rick got up to say a few things before things got underway.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for coming out tonight to support the NYPD Widows & Orphans Fund. All of us here have a spouse that is a part of the NYPD in one way or another. Some of us even have children. We are here tonight to help out the spouses that have been left behind by our fallen comrades and to help out the children that have lost their parents. Being an NYPD spouse myself, imagining a life without my wife is impossible to picture."

Rick finished up his speech and rejoined the others at the table. Once Rick was back beside Kate, the fundraiser for the NYPD Widows & Orphan Fund was underway.

Hours later, Rick and Kate were returning to the loft once the fundraiser had ended. The twin sets had been in bed for hours by the time their parents came home.

"So how did the fundraiser go?" Jim asked.

"It went well." Beckett answered.

"How much was raised for the fund?"

"$23,475." Castle said.

After the astonishment had worn off, Jim said his goodbyes before he headed home for the night.


	21. 21

21

Later on in the week came the Johanna Beckett Scholarship banquet dinner. This time around Jim was going to the event as were the twin sets. Kate spent the down time she had between the fundraiser and tonight working on her speech for tonight. The twin sets were adorable in their formal wear. Liam looked like a mini version of Rick in his tuxedo. Harley, Avery and Aria all wore dresses in their favorite colors. Once again, Alexis and Phoenix were meeting everyone at the scholarship banquet dinner. Jim and Martha were also going straight to the banquet dinner from their homes.

"Are you nervous?" Castle asked.

"A bit but tonight isn't about me, babe. It's about mom and her legacy."

"And the people who wish to fight for the underdog like she did."

Kate nodded as they left their bedroom. The kids were out in the living room waiting for their parents so they could all go to the banquet dinner.

A while later; Kate, Rick and the kids were at the party. Once again the Castle family were sitting with their friends. Jenny and Kevin were there with their kids. Just as Lanie and Javi had their kids with them. Captain Montgomery and his wife were the only ones without their kids at the banquet since their kids were living outside of the state. It was a good turnout for the scholarship banquet dinner. The event organizer said a few words before he introduced Kate to everyone that was in attendance that night.

"Twenty-three years ago, nine days into 1999; my mother was killed in a New York alley. Johanna Beckett fought for the underdog, for those who were wrongfully convicted of the crimes they committed. Tonight we are here to honor her legacy and to help the next generation do what she did."

A short time later, the dinner portion of the scholarship banquet was happening at this point. The Johanna Beckett Scholarship was awarded to five high school seniors throughout the course of the night. Each of the scholarship recipients said a few things after they had received the scholarship paper work.

By the end of the banquet dinner all of the kids that were at the table had that sleepy look on their faces. Some of them had even started to fall asleep in their respective parents' arms. The group sat around the table once the event was over while the cleaning crew did what they had to. The adults all finishing up their respective glasses of champagne before they called it a night. Once the champagne was done it was time to head home for the group. Kevin, Jenny, Lanie and Javi each picked up one of their kids to carry them home. Alexis and Phoenix helped with the twin sets. Jim shared an Uber with Martha.

On the ride back to their respective homes, Martha turned to her daughter in law's father.

"I do believe that your late wife would be just as proud of Katherine as you were of her tonight, Jim."

"Yes Johanna definitely would be. She would also love your son and our grandkids, all five of them."

Martha smiled.

The Uber driver pulled up outside of Martha's apartment first. Martha said her goodbye to Jim before the Uber driver pulled away. A few minutes after dropping Martha off, Jim was dropped off at his place. Both of them checked in their respective child after getting into their homes that night.


	22. 22

22

It was a normal weekday morning for the Castle family, whatever that was. The kids were eating their breakfast at the dining room table while Rick and Kate had their breakfast at the center island counter. All four of the Castle kids were having their own little conversation over their bowls of sugary cereal and milk. At the island counter, Rick and Kate were talking about what the day had in store for them. Kate was going into work that morning on her own since she had a bit of paper work to do. Rick was taking the twin sets to school and then he would spend the day writing.

The night before Rick had tried to write but he didn't have much luck writing due to the cursor supposedly taunting him.

"This collaboration is big, Kate."

"I know that it is, but it seems like it is coming out of left field. I mean considering the history you have with Stephen King."

"What history does Daddy have with Stephen King?" Harley asked.

Kate and Rick shared a look.

"You guys know how Daddy is a Yankees fan?" Beckett said.

"Yes." the kids said in unison.

"Well, Stephen King is a Boston Red Sox fan since he's a New England native…" Castle continued.

"The rivalry." Liam stated.

"Yes, the infamous Boston – New York rivalry add that to your Dad's childish behavior and you get why Stephen King isn't a fan of your Dad."

"Daddy, what did you do?" Aria asked.

"Ah…." Castle trailed off.

"Did you pull a prank on Stephen King?" Avery asked.

"Maybe." Castle said as innocently as he could.

"Oh Daddy…"

Kate tried her best to hold in the laughter that boiled up in her after the kids said what they did but that was easier said than done considering how cute the kids were.

Shortly after that, Kate got her things together for work before she said her goodbyes to the kids and Rick before she left for work. Rick took care of the breakfast dishes as the kids got their backpacks after Kate said goodbye to them. Once the dishes were taken care of, Rick and the kids headed out.


	23. 23

23

One day; Alexis went out to have drinks with Kate, Martha, Lanie and Jenny. A Girl's Day so to speak. Kate and Martha wanted to give Alexis a sendoff into married life since she had told everyone that she was getting married. They had to put their sendoff for Alexis on the back burner when Alexis's friend had theirs. On this particular day, everyone had a clear schedule so Martha and Kate seized the opportunity.

Martha and Kate had arranged for everyone to meet at one of the many watering holes in the city. This get together was just as much as of a break from motherhood for the mothers in the group as it was a sendoff for Alexis.

"So how are you feeling, Alexis?" Lanie asked her former intern.

"Um, well I feel okay."

"I meant about you getting married." Lanie amended.

"I'm good. Everything is going good…"

"I have to say, I do admire your composure. I was a wreck before my wedding." Jenny commented.

The bartender came over to take their drink orders. Once each of the ladies ordered their drinks, they also ordered a couple of appetizers."

"So was I." Beckett chimed in.

"As was I.

"And how many times was that; Martha?" Jenny asked.

"Just once and an almost."

"And an almost?"

"Grams' last boyfriend, Chet Palaburn had proposed to her. Shortly after the proposal, Chet had a stroke a number of years ago and he unfortunately passed away before Grams could give him her answer."

"Oh."

"He did leave her a nice inheritance though, which helped Martha towards opening up her acting school." Beckett said.

After that the drinks and the appetizers were delivered to the ladies. When it was just the five ladies again, the conversation resumed. Being the only engaged woman at the table; Alexis was let into the recalled memories of each of the married ladies' respective wedding nights. Of course on a less salacious and graphic level.


	24. 24

24

Rick and Kate had decided throughout the course of the week that they wanted to go to the Hamptons for a couple of days. Martha was tagging along with her son, daughter in law and grandkids. Alexis and Phoenix were going to spend the weekend with Phoenix's family. When it came to Jim going to the Hamptons or not, it fell into the not going category since he had a case he was working on. So for the trip up to the house in the Hamptons it would just be Rick, Kate and the kids.

On the first night in the Hamptons, the kids were in bed fast asleep. Rick and Kate were taking a walk along the beach in the moonlight. Martha was still awake when her son and daughter in law went out for their walk along the beach.

"Enjoy darlings."

The homicide detective walked hand in hand with her mystery writer husband in the moonlight just minutes after they had left the house.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Castle said.

"I am. This is perfect." Beckett replied.

Both of them loved the serenity of their current surroundings. A bit of the way down the coastline, at one of the many beachfront houses was a party. Rick and Kate's minds were elsewhere as they walked completely barefoot down the beach.

"What's going on in that head of yours, babe?" Beckett asked.

Rick opted to not verbally answer. Instead he stopped dead in his tracks, guided Kate to stand in front of him as he got down on one knee.

"What are you doing?" Beckett asked.

"We've been married for about eleven years now…"

"Yes we have." Beckett commented.

"So Katherine Houghton Beckett – Castle, will you marry me?" Castle asked.

"Babe, I already said yes eleven years ago…"

"Will you marry me again?"

Within seconds, Kate realized what Rick was getting at.

"Yes, yes; Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers Castle, I will marry you…. again."

With that questioned answered, Rick stood up and was eye level with Kate once again. The two of them shared a kiss before they continued on with their walk.


	25. 25

25

Kate and Rick ended up turning around when they reached the property line of the house that had the party going on. Once they did that they headed back to the house. Before they headed back inside the two of them sat down in the two white wooden Adirondack chairs that resided in the backyard. From what they could tell from the backyard, Martha must have still been up since the lights on the first floor of the house were still on. Rick and Kate sat down in the Adirondack chairs still holding hands as they took in the view of the moon reflecting off of the water.

"Could this night get any better than it is right now?" Beckett asked.

"Maybe, but do we want it to?"

"No."

Rick and Kate stayed out for a good couple of minutes.

"So when do you want to start hashing out the details for the vow renewal?" Castle asked after they had been sitting together for a bit.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Babe, we're right in the middle of planning Alexis and Phoenix's wedding."

"I know that."

"So on top of planning Alexis's wedding, working, being your muse which is a full time job in of itself and taking care of the kids you want me to plan our vow renewal?" Beckett posed.

"I just figured that we could renew our vows before Alexis and Phoenix say theirs."

"Well it was a thought, but I don't want to take the spotlight away from them. I mean we technically had our moment in the spotlight eleven years ago."

"Yes we did but that was a small, intimate ceremony with our family."

Kate knew that Rick had wanted to have a big wedding eleven years ago but he had given up on that due to the fact that they were expecting Liam and Harley at the time. They had done all of the other traditional thing that engaged couples did leading up to their wedding. The same thing that Alexis and Phoenix were going through at the moment.

"You want to do up big for the vow renewal…" Beckett said.

Rick didn't say much but then again he didn't have to for Kate to get her answer.

"I'll see what I can do."

After that Rick and Kate went back inside the house. As soon as they went in, Martha went up to bed. Before they went to bed themselves, Rick and Kate checked in on the twin sets. Since the Hamptons house was quite sizable, everyone was able to have their own bedroom. Having their own bedroom was the main reason why the twin sets loved going to the Hamptons. It was their chance to get a break their respective twin.


	26. 26

26

A number of days after the trip to the Hamptons and the vow renewal was put into play there was a bit of progress on the front of Alexis's wedding. The engaged duo was in Upstate New York with a highly recommend photographer who had taken the engagement pictures for one of Phoenix's cousins and her fiancé two years prior. Phoenix had a pair of khaki colored dress pants with a set of suspenders. Around the collar of the dress shirt was a blue bowtie. Alexis wore a white lace dress.

The photographer had taken a couple shots of Alexis and Phoenix walking together with their hands laced together, the sun created an angelic glow around them as it was slowly lowering itself in the sky. A few other picture had been taken while they still a decent amount of light.

One of the pictures that was taken was of Phoenix and Alexis sitting together. They each had a medium sized wooden framed blackboard with a bit of writing on them. As Alexis and Phoenix sat on the ground together facing each other their respective blackboards leaned against them on the side of their bodies that was facing the photographer.

As the photographer focused his camera on Alexis and Phoenix, it was quite easy to read what the blackboards said.

 _I asked her…_

… _And I said yes._

After each of the shots were taken, the photographer showed Alexis and Phoenix the picture that had taken just seconds before.

"I like that one a lot." Alexis said.

"That's good." the photographer said.

"What do you think of it?" Alexis asked Phoenix.

"I think you look amazing in it." Phoenix responded.

Alexis smiled.

"You don't look half bad either." Alexis said.

With that being said the duo walked away from the photographer and stopped in their tracks. Alexis took Phoenix's head in her hands and pulled him towards her. As they shared a kiss, the photographer saw another picture opportunity. Alexis's hand that held her engagement ring was facing the photographer. So in the middle of the kiss that Alexis and Phoenix were sharing in the moment, their photographer snapped a picture.

The very last picture that had been taken was another one that involved a wooden framed blackboard.

 _Proposed on_

 _January 10_ _th_ _, 2022_

 _I Do's on_

 _July 21_ _st_ _, 2022_

That last picture along with a few others would serve as a part of Phoenix and Alexis's engagement announcements.

* * *

A/N: There is a bit of significance behind the month and day that I am having Alexis and Phoenix get married. The significance is that July 21st is the birthday of the late Robin Williams, it was another way for me to pay homage to the legend we lost almost two years ago.


	27. 27

27

Alexis and Phoenix had gone to have dinner with Alexis's family after the photoshoot they had done. The photographer had sent some of the pictures he had taken to the joint email Alexis and Phoenix had besides their individual emails. As Alexis looked through the pictures with Kate and Martha, her siblings were playing on the living room floor. Rick was cooking dinner while Phoenix sliced up the bread that would going with the dinner that Rick was making.

"These pictures came out really good." Beckett said.

"Yes they did."

"You and Richard should use the same photographer for your vow renewal pictures, Katherine." Martha suggested.

"That would be an idea, although we weren't planning on doing vow renewal picture."

"We should, Kate. It'll be fun." Castle said from the kitchen.

"We haven't even picked date for the vow renewal let alone a venue for it."

"Here's an idea. Get vow renewal pictures taken but have us in them with you and Dad." Alexis suggested.

"Us?" Beckett questioned.

"All five of us in the picture with you and Dad." Alexis said as she pointed to herself and her siblings.

"Okay."

A few days later; Rick and Kate were at the park they had chosen with all five of their kids and the photographer. Everyone was dressed up for the pictures. Once again there was an appearance of wooden framed blackboards, this time there were five of the blackboards. One for each of the Castle kids. The Castle kids were standing in age order.

Alexis had her blackboard which read, _11 years ago our dad asked…_

Then Liam had his in hand, _our mom to be…._

Harley was next to her twin with her blackboard which said, _his wife and…_

Avery was beside her sister holding up her blackboard, _she said yes…._

Aria the one on the end, _again to our dad._


	28. 28

28

"So let's figure out your bridal party." Beckett said to her oldest child.

"Why don't we focus on your vow renewal first?" Alexis deflected.

"You know why, Alexis."

"I do but that's only because you and Dad haven't picked a day for your renewal."

"Alexis…"

"Okay, okay; let's get to work"

With that finally settled, Alexis and Kate sat down at the dining table to work on the bridal party while the kids colored in their respective coloring books.

"What have you and Phoenix decided on when it comes to the bridal party?" Beckett asked.

"Well we definitely want the kids involved." Alexis said as she tilted her head in the direction of her sisters and brother.

"Okay, what roles would they play?"

"Liam would be one of Phoenix's groomsmen."

"Has Phoenix picked any other people to be his groomsmen?"

"Not that I know of."

"And your bridesmaids?"

"Now that I have taken care of." Alexis answered.

"Okay and?"

"And I've decided that I want Ryder, Rowan and Aspen…."

"What about your sisters?" Beckett asked.

"I was just getting to that mom."

"I'm listening."

"I want Harley to be a bridesmaid too."

"Okay."

"We decided together that we want Avery and Aria to be the flower girls."

"Okay, at least we have some of the details ironed out."

Alexis nodded.

"Can you make sure that Phoenix finishes choosing his groomsmen preferably on the sooner side."

"I will."

There was a pause in the planning and the conversation. Both ladies could see how excited the younger kids were after they overheard that Alexis wanted them to be a part of her wedding.

"There is one more thing I was thinking doing in my wedding." Alexis said breaking the silence in the room.

"I'm listening."

"I'd like it if you, Grams, Dad and Meredith walked me down the aisle. "

"It would have to be a big aisle for the four of us to walk down it." Castle chimed in.

With a glare from his daughter and his wife, Rick eased off. All three of them could see the significance behind Alexis's request for her wedding.

Much like Rick had been, Martha was a key part when it came to raising Alexis following Rick and Meredith's divorce. Meredith was also a key part in Alexis's life, of course in her own special and unique way. Kate had always been a role model for Alexis and had stepped into the role of mother to Alexis shortly after she had started working with Rick all those years ago.


	29. 29

29

A number of months later with everything set in place for Alexis and Phoenix's wedding, the time had come for the rehearsal dinner. In mere twenty-seven hours, Alexis would no longer be a Castle. As the days and weeks had passed by, Rick had become quite nostalgic. After all; his first born child, his first daughter was no longer his little girl. It had dawned on Rick that even after Alexis said _I do_ to Phoenix that there were still three little girls at home that called him Daddy and it would be a very long time before they got married.

The day before the rehearsal dinner, the bride's family had gotten wind that Meredith was going to be late. Apparently the diva had done everything she could to get an earlier flight to New York but she didn't have much luck. So things went on as normal. When it came to the wedding rehearsal, both families were with the bride and groom at the church in Upstate New York where the ceremony would be taking place. Much like Rick and Kate's wedding, Alexis and Phoenix were having a judge officiate their wedding.

"Can everyone please take their places so we can get this show on the road?" the wedding planner said.

With that out there, everyone took their places for the rehearsal. Phoenix walked down to where he was supposed to stand with three of his four groomsmen in tow. Shortly after that, Phoenix's parents walked down the aisle and took their seats. Once the wedding planner had made sure that everything was all good with Avery and Aria, she sent them on their way down the aisle. Alexis's three friends/former college roommates and Harley followed next. While that was happening the wedding planner walked to the main aisle that everyone was walking down with Alexis, Rick, Kate and Martha.

"Now of course, this will be different when Meredith is here but you get the general idea."

After a nod from Alexis, her parents and Martha, the quartet were on their way down the aisle. When they were midway down the aisle, the diva extraordinaire from Malibu had arrived and made sure everyone knew she was there.

"No, no, no; I don't like this at all. This isn't right for my daughter's big day!" Meredith said.

"Is that Alexis's mother?" Phoenix's mother asked her son in a low whisper.

"Yeah that's her."

"This won't do, neither will this. All of this has to go now." Meredith demanded.

"Where's the closest bar?" Martha asked.

Kate tried her best to hold back the smile that came to her face after she heard her mother in law's comment.

"And that definitely won't do either, I demand that we change that right this instant." Meredith said as she pointed to her ex-husband, her ex-mother in law, her daughter and her ex-husband's wife in the middle of the aisle.

Rick was about to step in when Alexis stepped in herself.

"Now Meredith, we talked about this before. This isn't your wedding, it's mine and Phoenix's. So if you want to be a part of it then do us all a favor, do what you're told to do and when you're told to do."

"Alexis, darling; please call me mom. I am your mother after all."

Years ago when the twin sets were no longer babies, Alexis had decided that she only refer to Kate as Mom and she would refer to Meredith by her name so that her siblings wouldn't get confused. That was something that Meredith was not too pleased with once Alexis had told her what she had decided all those years ago.

"When they are around you're Meredith…" Alexis said as she directed Meredith's attention to the twin sets.

"And she's Mom."

With that being said, Meredith begrudgingly took her place in the group that was escorting Alexis down the aisle.


	30. 30

30

The big day had come for Alexis and Phoenix. Their guests were arriving and were taking their seats at their leisure while the bride and groom got ready in the side rooms that had been designated for them. The bridal party was pretty much ready to go. Everyone was looking good in their wedding attire. That morning at the loft the twin sets had requested Rick's S'mores omelets for breakfast. The kids fully enjoyed the omelets that the rest of the family found absolutely disgusting.

When it was just about time for the ceremony, the wedding planner came into the bridal room to get the bridesmaids and the flower girls so everyone in the bridal party could line-up. After the kids and Alexis's friends had left the bridal room; Kate, Martha and Meredith came in. When they came in, Alexis noticed a jewelry box in Kate's hands.

"What's going on?" Alexis asked.

"Oh nothing, we just wanted to see how you were doing." Meredith said.

"That's not the only reason." Martha said.

With that Kate opened the jewelry box to reveal what was inside. The blue diamond earrings that Martha had given to Kate to wear on her wedding day eleven years ago resided inside the box.

"Oh, wow…They're beautiful." Alexis commented.

Kate took the earring out of the box and handed them to Alexis so she could put them on. Once they were in Alexis's hand, she turned to the mirror behind her to put them on.

"Martha gave these to me on my wedding day to wear. And now it's your turn." Beckett said.

"They were given to me by my mother to wear on my wedding day and by her mother before. Only women of substance have worn these gems…" Martha emphasized the last part on purpose.

The only one out of the four women who didn't have the privilege of wearing the blue diamond earrings was Meredith. Martha purposefully took a quick side glance at Meredith just to see if she reacted at all. Just as expected Meredith did react which made Martha's day when she saw that her slight jab at Meredith worked.

Once that was taken care, the ladies left the bridal room to walk down the aisle. Rick joined them within minutes of them stepping into the main hallway.


	31. 31

31

"It's time, Alexis." Castle said after he came into the bridal room.

Martha, Kate and Meredith all agreed that the moment before the ceremony was one that was meant to be shared between the bride and her father. Not the bride, her father, her grandmother, her biological mother and her adoptive/surrogate mother. So Martha waited outside of the bridal room with her daughter in law and her former daughter in law.

"I guess so." Alexis replied.

"How are you doing? Nervous at all?"

"I don't know. All I am feeling at the moment is a bit of excitement."

"Well that's good."

For a brief few minutes, Rick and Alexis stood in the bridal room. His little girl was all grown up. All those years from her childhood had flown by so fast as far as Rick was concerned.

"What's the matter, Dad?" Alexis asked.

"It's nothing."

For the most part of her childhood, Alexis had always been the parent out of two of them. But this brief moment that they were having; Rick was the parent and Alexis was the child.

"Dad, I know nothing. Nothing is a dear friend of mine and this is not nothing." Alexis said.

Rick took a moment before he answered his daughter.

"It's just that you're not my little girl anymore. You don't need me anymore."

"Dad, I may not be that little girl that you pushed on the park swings or the teenager that you pushed down the hallway to your office after you first met Mom on the Tisdale case; but I'll always be your little girl. And I'll always need my go to dad."

Rick and Kate shared a hug before Rick kissed Alexis on the top of her head. Shortly after that, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Alexis called.

"It's time, darlings."

With that from Martha, Rick and Alexis joined the ladies outside of the bridal room. The bridal party walked down the aisle just as they had the day before. Once the bridal party was in their places; the music switched to cue Alexis, all three of her parents and Martha.

"Who gives this woman to marry this man?" the judge inquired.

After the question that was posed there was a unanimous response from Alexis's family and her precinct family. "We do."

A smile came to the faces of Alexis and Phoenix after that. The judge then proceeded with the ceremony after Alexis's escorts were in their places.


	32. 32

32

An hour or so later, Alexis and Phoenix were standing outside of the room where their reception was being held at the venue they had chosen prior to the wedding. All of their guests were already inside the room. The guests that were of legal drinking age and older had wasted no time when it came to hitting the open bar that they had set up. Of course all of the kids that were in attendance either had water or soda.

"So bro, how does it feel having one daughter off on her own and married?" Javi asked.

"I'm still getting used to it. But from what I have gathered so far, it's very odd."

"It can't be that odd." Kevin commented.

The guys were standing near the bar; Jim had just come up a minute before to get a soda to drink.

"When you two have to walk your daughters down the aisle then we'll talk."

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked.

"How it feels to be the father of the bride post – wedding ceremony."

"Oh, well in that case I have to agree with Rick."

Rick was a bit surprised when Jim agreed with him.

"It was a bit hard giving Katie away eleven years ago, but seeing her smile when she said her vows was all that I needed to know that getting married was what she wanted."

In light of Alexis and Phoenix's wedding, it seemed that Rick had forged a new kind of bond with his father in law now that they both had married off a daughter. Of course, Rick still had three daughters that were quite a number of years off from walking down the aisle with him.

Javi and Kevin had left the bar to rejoin their respective families. When Rick had looked over to where Kate was, he saw that she was talking to Phoenix's parents.

"Where are the kids?" Castle asked.

"They're over there…with your mother." Jim answered.

With that, Rick's gaze panned over to where his son and daughters were with his mother. After that, the wedding planner ducked into the room and signaled the DJ that it was time for him to announce Alexis and Phoenix.

"Can I have everyone's attention please…." the DJ said after the music had stopped.

The guests turned their attention to the DJ as requested.

"It is my honor to announce for the first time anywhere, Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix Matthews."

Phoenix and Alexis walked into the room after the DJ had announced them. The room erupted with cheers and applause.


	33. 33

33

"They've said _Always_ and _Forever_ , now it's time for the newlyweds to share their first dance together as husband and wife." the DJ said.

Alexis and Phoenix took to the center of the dance floor as their guests took their seats at the tables they had been given The DJ put on the song that Phoenix and Alexis had chosen for their first dance. A familiar voice to everyone in the room came over the speakers that the DJ had set up with his equipment. It was none other than fellow New York native; Billy Joel came through the speakers with his song _Just The Way You Are_.

Rick, Kate, Captain Montgomery and the boys all smiled as they recalled their own Billy Joel moment when they walked out of the 12th together singing _Piano Man_ on their way to The Old Haunt. Now this was the second time throughout the course of the day's events that Rick and Kate had smiles on their faces. During the ceremony when Alexis and Phoenix said their vows they had each incorporated a bit of something from their respective parents. For Alexis and her parents, it was _Always_ since that was Rick and Kate's way of saying _I Love You_ in not so many words.

The same went for Phoenix's parents but instead of _Always,_ they used _Forever_ which was bit _Full House_ – ish.

Alexis and Phoenix danced together, just the two of them for a little bit before the DJ took to the microphone in front of him again.

"Alexis and Phoenix would like to invite those of you that are in love to join them on the dance floor at this time." the DJ said.

Javi and Lanie went up to the dance floor at the same time as most of the other guests did at that time. Kevin and Jenny were on their heels. Kate and Rick went up to the dance floor at the same time as Phoenix's parents. Captain Montgomery and his wife followed shortly after Rick and Kate.

Meredith was not too pleased being the only one out of her daughter's three parents that didn't have anyone to dance with at the moment. In the moment, Meredith seized the opportunity to find a way to remedy her current state of being single. With that plan in place, Meredith scanned the room for a possible bachelor to dance with. The lucky guy so to speak was one of Phoenix's Columbia friends that was one of his groomsmen.


	34. 34

34

It had been over a week since Alexis and Phoenix tied the knot. The newlyweds were a week into their honeymoon in Barcelona. Everyone in Manhattan was back to normal following the wedding. Rick and Kate got the twin sets off to school every morning before heading into the precinct. Whenever the family got the chance to talk to Alexis and Phoenix, Alexis seized the opportunity to get her parents to set a date for their vow renewal.

"So when is the renewal going to be?" Alexis asked.

"It will be sometime soon." Castle answered.

"But when?"

"Soon, Alexis." Beckett replied.

If the phone call had been a FaceTime call, then Rick and Kate would have seen Alexis shaking her head at their indecisiveness. Thankfully it wasn't a FaceTime call so Alexis didn't get caught shaking her head.

"You guys need to make a decision about the renewal."

"We know we do, but we're enjoying the calm we have right now."

There was a pause in the conversation.

"Have you talked to anyone else besides us?" Castle asked.

"Yeah; I talked to Ryder, Rowan and Aspen the other day via FaceTime."

"Did they asked if you've use the stuff from LUSH that they got you?" Beckett inquired.

"Of course they did…."

"I don't think I want to hear this part."

With that, Rick left his wife's desk in the homicide bullpen and headed to the breakroom to get coffee for the two of them from the expresso machine he had bought for the Homicide Unit a number of years ago.

"I take it that Dad isn't sitting next to you anymore." Alexis said.

"No. He's getting coffee from the breakroom…"

"Oh okay."

"You're still his little girl even though you've been married for a week plus." Beckett said.

"I know; I didn't think that was going to change."

"Trust me it never will."

Alexis knew that Kate was speaking from experience after her last remark.

"Do you think that he'll be the same way when Harley, Avery and Aria get married?" Alexis asked.

"Of course he will be, Alexis. And I'm sure he'll be that way too when his little boy gets married."

"Definitely."

Rick cautiously made his way back to Kate's desk with two cups of coffee in hand.

"Have you two moved on to a different topic?" Castle asked.

"Yes." Beckett answered

The phone call with Alexis continued on a bit longer before Alexis had to get off of the phone so that she and Phoenix could make their lunch reservation at one of the many restaurants in Barcelona.


	35. 35

35

"Alexis is right; we have to set a date for the renewal." Castle said as he and Kate had gotten ready for bed that night.

Following Alexis's wedding and Alexis getting the rest of her things from the loft, there was a shift in the bedrooms on the second floor. The rooms that the twin sets had been in had become guest rooms. Avery and Aria moved into Martha's old bedroom while Liam and Harley moved into Alexis's old room.

"I know she is and I promise that we'll get to it…" Beckett replied.

"But? You can tell, there's a "but" coming."

Kate just shook her head in response to her husband reiterating what he had said in Captain Montgomery's office at the precinct a number of years' prior during the Shimansky/Thompson/Debiasse murders.

"Not a but, babe. More like; I'd rather have a bit of fun and put the whole picking a date for the renewal on the back burner for the time being." Beckett said as she took something out of a small paper bag from LUSH.

A number of weeks before Alexis and Phoenix had said _I do_ ; Kate got together with her eldest daughter, her mother in law, Lanie and Jenny for a small bridal shower of her own.

"What are you pulling out of the bag?" Castle asked.

"This…" Beckett answered as she held what was in the bag in her hand.

Rick's interest had been piqued to say the very least.

A moment later, Kate finished her sentence. "Not that we need any help in that department…"

Lanie had gone to one LUSH stores that was in Manhattan to pick up the one thing that Alexis's three friends had given her three of at her own bridal shower.

"I take it that was what you had asked Alexis about before."

"Pretty much. Want to test it out?"

"Sure." Castle said quite eagerly after he had picked up on Kate's seductive tone.

"Well then, let's not waste any more time then."

After that, Kate led Rick into their bathroom where she drew the water in their freestanding claw foot bathtub and tossed in the Sex Bomb bath bomb that Lanie had given her while Rick rushed through removing his clothes.

"It looks like someone can't wait…" Beckett said after she had turned the water off.

"Can you blame me?" Castle said as Kate stripped down.

Seconds later the duo that had been married for eleven years had gotten into the bathtub as planned and enjoyed each other's company for a little while.


	36. 36

36

Rick and Kate had a few minutes to themselves before their son and daughters were up one morning. There was something on Kate's mind and Rick could easily tell that was. They sat down to have a cup of coffee together before the kids came down for breakfast.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Kate?" Castle asked.

"It's nothing."

"No, it's something."

"Fine, I've had something on my mind since the other day." Beckett admitted to.

"And what would that be?" Castle asked.

"The bedroom situation with the kids."

"We have that resolved."

"For now we do…."

Rick knew where this was going.H

"We have time still, Kate. Nothing has to be decided now."

"Babe, Harley and Liam will be teenagers in three years."

"Avery and Aria will be teenagers in four."

"Don't play this off, Rick. Harley and Liam aren't going to want to share a bedroom when they're teenagers. I highly doubt that Avery and Aria will either when the time comes for them."

"So what do you propose we do?" Castle asked.

"I really don't know right now."

"We do have time to think this over, remember."

Just as Kate was about to reply the twin sets came downstairs to have breakfast before they went to school.

* * *

A/N: Happy Easter to all of you out there that celebrate Easter.


	37. 37

37

The next time that Kate had some time to herself during the week she stood in the hallway upstairs between the kids' bedroom and the guest bedrooms trying to figure out what they were going to do when the twin sets were teenagers. It didn't matter whether they still had three years before Liam and Harley were teenagers or that they had longer, they still had to figure things out.

Of course in the other part of Kate's brain was the fact that they had to decide on a date for the vow renewal too. Before she got too overwhelmed with everything, Kate headed back downstairs to relax. Within minutes she was laying on the couch in the living room with her back resting on one of the arm rests of the couch. Kate wasted no time when it came to putting her earbud headphones in her ears once they were plugged into her phone. With her main playlist in full swing, Kate started to relax.

First up was a song that came out a number of years ago by an artist named Andrew Belle, the song was _In My Veins_ which featured another artist on it. After Kate had heard this song for the first time when it was first released to the public was when she knew that it was hers and Rick's song. Shortly after Rick had re-proposed for the vow renewal, Kate knew that they had to dance to it.

Rick had come back into the living room and been trying to get Kate's attention. When he had succeeded in getting Kate's attention, Kate got up from laying down on the couch.

"What's going on?" Castle inquired.

"I just needed to unwind for a bit."

"Okay?"

"I've solved one of our problems…" Beckett said.

"And what would that be?"

"I decided on when we should do the renewal and what song we should dance to at the party afterwards."

"Okay?"

Kate then filled Rick in on what she had decided when it came to their vow renewal as Rick gave Kate a foot massage.


	38. 38

38

Alexis and Phoenix had decided to have a tropical destination for their honeymoon. Throughout the course of the first week on their honeymoon they had done all the usual tourist activities. On the start of the second week of their honeymoon, Alexis and Phoenix opted for spending time at the beach. By this point in her life, Alexis had become accustomed to being in the spotlight due her Dad's semi-celebrity status much like her siblings were. Phoenix was still getting use to the whole being in the spotlight just like it took Kate a while to get used to it.

So on one of the first few days in the second week of their honeymoon, the newlyweds were on one of the beaches that Santorini offered its inhabitants and everyone that came to visit. Alexis and Phoenix were sitting in two beach chairs underneath an umbrella on the beach they had gone to. Now the press had followed them to Santorini after they had left the States. And today they had followed the newlyweds to the beach just to get pictures for the next edition of their various publications.

The photographers did everything they could to get Alexis and Phoenix's attention for their pictures.

"Alexis, Phoenix; over here." one of the photographers called.

"Alexis, over here." another photographer shouted.

"Let's have a kiss you two." a third photographer hollered.

"This is starting to get annoying." Alexis commented.

"Starting to?" Phoenix commented.

The photographers were still attempting to get their shots of Alexis and Phoenix. While they ignored the photographers, Alexis and Phoenix had gotten up from their seats to head down to the clear blue Mediterranean water to cool off from the summer heat.

"Looking good, Alexis." one of the photographers called.

Alexis had been wearing a bikini that accentuated all the things that swimsuits tend to when a woman wears a bikini. Phoenix had been in the traditional swim trunks that guys wore.

"Have I said how annoying they are?" Phoenix asked as he walked down to the water with Alexis.

"Yes you have. But you'll get used to it, I promise."

Once they were in the water, the photographers all hit the zoom buttons on their cameras to get the shots they wanted of Alexis and Phoenix in the Mediterranean Ocean. It wouldn't be long before the pictures that were residing on all of the cameras would be on the cover of all the major magazine covers back home in the States as well as throughout the pages of said magazines.


	39. 39

39

When they finally escaped the press later on in the day, the newlywed was within the security of their room at the hotel they were staying at in Santorini. Alexis and Phoenix's hotel room was one the hotel's private rooms that overlooked the villa below them as well as the Mediterranean itself. Phoenix was relieved that they had finally skirted the press.

"Can we just stay here in this room for the rest of the trip?" Phoenix asked.

"We could, but we'd miss out on a lot."

"Yes we would, but we wouldn't have to deal with the press like we did today."

Alexis understood that Phoenix wasn't happy with constantly having a tail.

"How about we decide on how to spend the rest of our honeymoon in the morning." Alexis said.

"Okay, but what are we going to do now?" Phoenix asked.

"I have a few ideas…"

With that said, Alexis pushed her husband back so that he ended up sitting down on the chair that was behind him in the main living area of their hotel room.

"Oh you do, do you?" Phoenix said.

Alexis nodded yes as she straddled Phoenix's lap and the two of the shared yet another kiss. After the intimate kiss, Alexis moved her focus from Phoenix's lips to other parts of his person starting with the side of his neck.

"Are you sure, Alexis?" Phoenix asked.

Tonight was the first time since they had gotten married and had arrived in Santorini that the intimacy level in their relationship was going to be raised to the next level so to speak.

"Am I sure? Let's see…"

Before finishing her sentence, Alexis's switched up her tactics.

"Okay, I guess you are." Phoenix said when he was able to speak after what Alexis did to show that she was sure.

Once they were both on the same page, the newlyweds made their way to the bedroom very slowly.


	40. 40

40

By week's end, the newlyweds had heading back home from their honeymoon. Once they had their night in their hotel room they rarely left their hotel room. Alexis and Phoenix were waiting in the airport terminal that their plane would be picking them up at. While they waited for their flight to get the airport, Phoenix and Alexis video chatted with their families back home.

"So how was the honeymoon?" Martha asked.

"It was good." Alexis answered.

"Okay I guess." Phoenix chimed in.

"What's up Phoenix?" Beckett asked.

"We had a tail for most of the trip." Phoenix answered.

"Oh…" Castle said.

There was a pause in the conversation as everyone digested that bit of information.

"And what about the other days?"

"We were tail free." Alexis answered.

"Oh really."

Now it didn't take Martha and Kate that long to connect the proverbial dots. It had only taken Rick a second longer than it had his mother and his wife.

"I didn't need to know that." Castle commented.

"Your friends will be happy to hear that you used their gifts."

Alexis blushed slightly after her grandmother's comment. After that Kate and Rick had shared the decisions that had been made in regards to the vow renewal. Alexis was happy to hear that a date had finally been set. She wasn't surprised by the song choice though.

Once the video chat with Alexis's parents and grandmother were over, Alexis and Phoenix made a quick call to Meredith before they called Phoenix's parents. Following the call to Phoenix's parents, if there was time left; Alexis was going to call her friends.

Before long, the plane that was going to take the newlyweds back to the city that never sleeps and since they were in first class they were one of the first few people that boarded the plane.


	41. 41

41

Alexis and Phoenix were settling back into things once they were home from their honeymoon in Santorini. The doorman of their building had brought their luggage and other things up to their apartment while the newlyweds took their time getting up to their apartment. As they had drawn closer to their home, Phoenix had unlaced his hand from Alexis's.

"What are you doing?" Alexis questioned.

Phoenix scooped Alexis up in his arms once he had seen that the doorman waiting by their apartment door so that he could open the door for them.

"I'm nothing, if not traditional." Phoenix said

With that Phoenix walked over the threshold of their apartment with Alexis in his arms.

"That was very Edward Cullen of you." Alexis playfully teased as Phoenix set her back down on her feet.

Phoenix just smirked. "Welcome home, Mrs. Matthews."

Alexis laughed on the inside before she responded.

"Welcome home, Mr. Castle." Alexis said cheekily.

In the moment after, when Alexis had seen how Phoenix had responded to what she had last said; she was reminded of how her own father responded to when Kate had called Rick _Mr. Beckett_ following their own first few days into married life.

The rest of the day had gone on as usual for Alexis and Phoenix. Everything was unpacked from the suitcases and put away. After that chore was done, the newlyweds ordered in for dinner. Following dinner that night, Alexis and Phoenix had settled into life as a married couple.

Phoenix was starting to notice how there was a bit of each of her parents when it came to her little quirks and how she did things when it was just the two of them. More often than not Phoenix saw more of Kate and Rick in his wife. But there were a few moments when he saw a bit of Meredith in Alexis and it wasn't just the red hair that his wife had sported since the day she was born.

Hours later when the sun had come back up in the New York sky, Phoenix watched his wife saunter into the kitchen from their bedroom. The sun was coming through the windows. Stunning Phoenix as she walked across their living room with her hair pulled back into a high ponytail along with nothing else on her person but a tank top and a pair of Victoria's Secret Pink collection was all a part of Alexis's plan to always keep Phoenix guessing. It was in the moments that Phoenix watched Alexis come his way that he saw another quirk.

"Like what you see?" Alexis asked.

"Always do, always will."

Alexis smiled before she kissed Phoenix. Over breakfast that morning they discussed what the week had in store for them and what they had to do come the weekend.


	42. 42

A/N: Just so that you all know, I amended chapter 53 in "Manhattan Love Story"; this story's predecessor. I changed the original version of said chapter from said previous story to be that Phoenix's sister is named Charlie (short for Charlotte) and Andy is Charlie's husband. I did keep Phoenix's nephews that were mentioned in chapter 53 of "Manhattan Love Story", Nate and Noah to be the son's of Charlie and Andy.

* * *

42

Alexis was about to head out to get lunch later that afternoon when she had been stopped just outside of her office by one of her work friends.

"Off to lunch, Alexis?" Micah asked.

"Yeah, you?"

"Not quite yet, I have one thing that I have to do before I can."

"Oh…."

"So what do you and Phoenix have planned for this weekend?"

"We're heading up to my in-laws on Friday afternoon for the weekend." Alexis said.

"Oh really."

"Yes; my nephews' are in their school's talent show and my niece has a birthday this weekend."

"Okay."

With that Alexis left the office to grab lunch at the nearest Chipotle. On her way there, Alexis got a FaceTime call from her nephews and niece.

"Hey guys, what's going on?

"Not much, Aunt Lex." Abbey said.

"We can't wait to see you this weekend!" Noah exclaimed.

"And Uncle Phoenix too." Nate chimed in.

"Well that's good to hear. We can't wait to see you guys either."

Alexis talked to her niece and nephews for a while longer before she went into Chipotle for lunch. Across town, Phoenix was heading back into his office building after he got a couple of hot dogs from the street vendor who set up shop outside of Phoenix's office building when one of his work buddies caught up with him.

"Want to come over this weekend to watch the Yankees game?"

"Sorry, can't."

"Oh…"

"Alexis and I are heading up to see Nate and Noah in their school's talent show."

"Okay."

"Yeah, then Evan and Theo's daughter has a birthday coming up this weekend."

"Oh, I didn't know that your brother; Evan was…."

"Gay, what's the big deal?" Phoenix questioned.

"Nothing at all. Sorry that I pissed you off, man."

With that Phoenix left his buddy to take the stairs back up to the office before he said anything that he'd regret later. All the way up he wondered where his buddy came off of to pass judgement on Evan.


	43. 43

A/N: This chapter is rated "M".

* * *

43

Alexis and Phoenix were still in the honeymoon/newlywed phase in their married life. But then again that was to be expected when two twenty-somethings were in love and married. After a long workday and dinner, Alexis and Phoenix were relaxing together on the couch in the living room once everything was all cleaned up from dinner. It was just a casual kind of night for them.

"You want to do something tonight?" Alexis asked.

"Sure. If you want." Phoenix said as casually as he could.

"Sure."

"Like what?"

"We could, umm…go watch a movie."

"Yeah. Yeah, if you want to."

"Well, not if you don't want to." Alexis said.

"No, if you want to; I want to." Phoenix replied.

There was a pause in the conversation before a decision was made by either one of them.

"Yeah I want to." Alexis said.

Phoenix smiled as the two of them got up from the couch and quickly embraced each other. In the moment, Alexis knew that she had just made Phoenix's night when she had made the decision that she had.

Once they were tangled up in each other, the kissing began as they slowly made their way to their bedroom. On the way they each lost a bit of clothing. Which in turn created a trail of clothes from the couch in the living room to their bedroom.

It wasn't long before the foreplay was underway. Phoenix was still wearing his boxer shorts. Alexis was still in one of the bra and panties sets that she had ordered off of an online store. Even though they had done it a couple of times since they had gotten married and things never really changed, Phoenix always enjoyed what he saw. It was as if it was Christmas morning for him.

"Like what you see?" Alexis asked.

"Always."

Following his response, Phoenix wasted no time getting to work. He slowly slid the straps of Alexis's bra off of each of her shoulders before he had pushed the bra cups away from Alexis's chest. Shortly after that was taken care of, Phoenix played with Alexis's breasts before the bra itself was taken off. Sometime later once Phoenix was sure that he had done everything to get his wife in the mood, they had switched.

Alexis had started by kissing her husband and then leaving a trail of kisses in the wake of her lips on Phoenix's body from Phoenix's lips all the way down to where his boxers resided. Within seconds, it had looked like Alexis sent Phoenix into pure bliss. The two of them had resumed kissing before they had fallen back onto their bed together.

An hour or so later, Alexis and Phoenix were lying in bed together.

"That was…" Phoenix started to say.

"Great? Better than the last time?" Alexis questioned in attempt to finish Phoenix's sentence for him.

"No."

"Then what was it?"

"Absolutely amazing."

Alexis smiled and kissed Phoenix.


	44. 44

44

One afternoon just as Alexis was getting back to the office from her lunch break, she had been stopped by one of her co-workers as she made her way back to her desk.

"Hey Alexis, you got a call on line one waiting for you."

"Okay, who is it?" Alexis asked.

"It was kind of hard to hear with all the noise coming over the line but it sounded like they said that their name was Harley."

With that Alexis hurried back to her desk to take the call. Thus leaving her co-worker in her wake wondering what was going on.

"Harley, what's going on? Did something happen to Dad? Was Mom shot? Is Grams okay?" Alexis asked.

"Breathe Lex. Mom didn't get shot, Dad is fine and Grams is still Grams." Harley answered.

The twin sets had a half day since it was parent-teacher conference night at their school. Martha was keeping an eye on her grandbabies for her son and daughter in law.

Alexis let out a sigh of relief that was so loud that everyone around her could hear it. "Okay then if there is nothing wrong with them, then why did you call me at work? Are you guys okay? No broken bones or anything?"

"Everything is fine."

"We called because we need your help with something, Lex." Liam chimed in from the background.

"You have me on speaker, don't you?"

"Well yeah, it was the easy thing to do since we're all in Dad's office." Avery said.

Alexis was trying her best not to get upset with her sisters and brother nearly scaring the crap out of her with this out of the blue phone call.

"Okay, why couldn't this call wait until later on?"

"Because later on, Mom and Dad will be home." Aria said.

"Why would Mom and Dad being home keep you from calling me? You guys have done it before?"

"Before we go on, can you stop the interrogation? You're not Mom or Uncle Javi or Uncle Kevin…" Harley said with a bit of moxie.

"Harley Addallee." Martha called from the living room.

"We called because we want to play an April Fool's prank on Dad."

"You guys do realize that April Fool's Day was months ago, right."

"Alexis Harper…"

"Sorry Grams."

With that, the twin sets discussed the whole prank thing with Alexis for a while before Alexis had to get back to work.

Later on in the workday, the co-worker that had stopped Alexis earlier on in the day to tell her about the phone call checked in to see if everything was okay.

"So that was your sister calling before?"

"Yes. Actually it was all three of my sisters and my brother too."

"Four sibling, wow. Younger or older?"

"Younger and they're all a handful."

Alexis's co-worker laughed. "Yeah, they tend to be that way. My three siblings are like that too, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Neither would I." Alexis said as she looked at an old picture that she had on her desk of her and her siblings from a few years back.

* * *

A/N: Happy National Siblings' Day, to all of you out there with a sibling or siblings.


	45. 45

45

The twin sets spent the rest of the night trying to come with a prank that they could play on their dad when the opportunity presented itself. Of course when Rick and Kate came home from the precinct, the kids were working on their homework at the dining room table. With it being the end of the work day, everyone in the city was heading home. Across town, both Phoenix and Alexis were just getting into their place after they had picked up dinner at Remy's.

"So they called you at work today. For what?" Phoenix asked as they set the take out bag on the table with the sodas they had gotten.

On the way back to their apartment, Alexis had told Phoenix that her sibling had called her at work just after lunch that day and how they had scared her half to death.

"They want to play a prank on Dad, a belated April Fool's Day prank."

"Oh because they couldn't pull a prank on April Fool's since that was his birthday."

"Exactly and they dare not pull a prank on that day with Mom around."

"Have they come up with anything yet?" Phoenix asked.

"Not that I know of."

After that, Alexis and Phoenix sat down dinner. Back at the loft dinner was over and dishes were getting cleaned up. Once they had their dinner dishes in the dishwasher, the twin sets had run upstairs to one of their bedrooms to plan out the prank that they were planning on pulling on Rick. As the twin sets had rushed up the stairs to the bedrooms, their parents began to suspect that the four kids were up to something; especially Kate.

"What was that about?" Beckett had asked.

"I have no idea." Castle said.

It was in that moment after he had responded to his wife's query that Rick realized that his mother hadn't left yet. Martha had stayed for dinner that night and was getting her things together before she left the loft.

"What are the kids up to, Mother?"

Martha had known that her son had caught onto something.

"I know nothing." Martha answered.

"You know something."

Kate was listening in from the kitchen as Rick made his way towards his mother.

"Alright, I do know something. But I've been sworn to secrecy."

Kate smiled as she heard Martha's response. Martha had always been adept at getting around things.

Before Rick could ask any other questions, Martha had said her goodbyes and left.

"You have to admit; she does have skill." Beckett chimed in as Rick made his way back to the clean-up in the kitchen.


	46. 46

46

"So what are we going to do to prank Dad?" Liam asked taking the lead in the discussion.

With looks between the girls after they had taken note that Liam was exerting his role as the eldest out of the four of them.

"Well Liam that is why we came up here." Harley said.

"Okay you two, give it a break. We have to come up with something and soon so we can get back to Lex." Avery said.

"Besides it sounds like Mom and Dad are catching on to us. I heard Dad asking Grams questions as we came up here." Aria chimed in.

The twin sets then settled things between themselves before they delved into planning the prank. Meanwhile downstairs, everything was finally cleaned up from dinner. Rick and Kate had settle down on the living room couch together. Kate had her copy of the latest _Nikki Heat_ book in hand. There was a perk to being married to a famous mystery writer, she was always the first one to read what Rick had come up with when it came to the book series of his that she was the inspiration for. Rick was playing a computer game on his laptop.

"Have you heard anything from Alexis?" Castle asked.

"No, not since she called last week."

"Oh…"

"Why do you ask?" Beckett questioned.

"Oh no reason. Just that she usually checks in by now."

"Relax babe, she probably just busy. Remember she just got back from her honeymoon and went back to work. And then there is that minor detail that she is a newlywed."

"I know she."

"And I know that you remember our newlywed days were like all those years ago…" Beckett said.

In that moment, Rick flashed back to the early days of their marriage. Kate was in the early stages of her pregnancy with Liam and Harley. Rick and Kate had fully embraced the whole newlywed thing just as Alexis and Phoenix currently were.

"Yeah I do." Castle said with satisfied look on his face.

"Clearly." Beckett commented.

Later on, three of the four kids came downstairs. They were starting to go through their bed time prep routine which including taking a shower. The three that came down waited their turn for the shower.


	47. 47

47

On one Friday evening, the twin sets watched their Dad set things up for one his many poker games that he hosted. Their interest had been piqued much like Alexis's had been a number of years ago just before their parents and uncles got the Finch case. The twin sets knew that their sister had been taught by their dad and their Grams. They didn't want to be the only ones in the family that didn't know how to play poker.

"Daddy…" Aria asked once she had been nominated by her sisters and brother to ask Rick the question they had.

Being the baby of the family had its perks, which Aria knew quite well; but she also knew that it had some pitfalls.

"Yes Ari." Castle answered.

"We were just wondering which one of your poker games is happening tonight?"

"It's the one with your uncles."

"Uncle Javi, Uncle Kevin and Uncle Roy?"

"Yes, those uncles of yours."

"Is Mommy and Grams playing too?" Aria asked.

"No, they're not."

It was then that the other three kids joined their sister by the poker table.

"What are they doing then?" Harley asked.

Rick was starting to see a bit of Kate's cop side in Harley and now Aria.

"Grams has a date tonight." Castle answered.

"And Mom?" Avery chimed in.

It made Rick smile some when he saw some of Kate in their three younger daughters.

"She's having a girl's night out with Alexis and your Aunt Lanie."

With that answered, the kids asked about Lanie and Javi's kids. Rick told them that Jenny was watching Javi and Lanie's kids that night.

"Can you teach us how to play poker?" Liam asked for himself and his sisters.

Rick nodded and everyone went back to what they had been doing before the line of questions from the four musketeers.


	48. 48

48

When the time came for the guy's poker game, they had the loft to themselves. Kate left for her girl's night out ten minutes before the boys and the Captain showed up at the loft for the game. The twin sets ventured up to their respective bedrooms after they said goodbye to Kate, they even asked her to say hi to Alexis and Lanie for them. The twin sets would be working on their homework for a while before they wanted dinner. Rick had promised his kids that he would teach them how to play poker when Kate wasn't around. Kate had said that the kids could learn how to play when they had reached the age that Alexis had been when Rick and Martha had taught her.

Throughout the course of the various hands during the game, the sound of the kids' footfalls in the hallway between the bedrooms was heard down at the poker table. The guys were sharing stories like they usually did when they got together to play poker. All four of the guys had a beer in their respective cup holder that was a part of the poker table.

Hours later the poker game was over and the kids had dinner. Kate had come home from her girl's night out. She and Rick had checked on the kids. They also checked the kids' homework like they did every night. Rick told the kids that he would teach them how to play poker the next day when Kate was at work. Of course when Saturday morning came, Kate had checked to see if Rick was tagging along with her to the precinct or not. Rick had said that he wasn't. Even though she knew that Rick was staying home to be with the kids, Kate also kind of suspected that there something else going on.

"It's time, kids" Castle called.

The kids cheered after Rick called them. Within seconds the kids were in the living room where the poker table resided.

"Alright. Here comes the turn." Harley said.

"Mm. Actually, sweetie, it's called the River."

"Right. Right. The, uh, fifth community card is called "the River" or "fifth street"." Liam said.

"Now you're on the trolley, kid."

"So…. who won?" Avery asked.

"Well you guys had me until the River."

Rick won the first hand, they kept playing so each kid won a hand. At one point, Martha joined in just as she had when Alexis was taught the game. But before long the fun came to an end when Kate came home for lunch.


	49. 49

49

Before things got started between Kate and Rick after Kate had gotten home from her girls' night out, Martha gathered her things together when she sensed that there was trouble brewing. She also took note of where her grandson and granddaughters were. Kate was starting to pace in the open space between the island counter in the kitchen and the couch. The atmosphere in the loft was quite palpable.

"Go up to your rooms." Martha said to her grandkids.

The twin sets nodded and ran up to their rooms just as Martha started to leave the loft.

"Take it easy on him." Martha said to her daughter in law.

"I'll try."

With that, Martha left. Now it was just the two of them, Rick and Kate.

"What were you thinking?" Beckett questioned.

"I was just playing a card game with the kids."

"It wasn't just a card game and we both know that. You were teaching them how to play poker."

"Yeah and I wanted them to wait until they reached the age that Alexis was when she was taught. I didn't want them learning how to play poker when they are 10 and 9 years old." Beckett said.

"I know; you know as well as I do that it's next to impossible to say no to them."

"Yes I know it is, but sometimes you have to."

The disagreement between Kate and Rick continued on. What they didn't know was that their son and daughters were listening to the whole thing from the top of the stairs.

"We should go back down there." Avery said.

"This isn't right that Daddy is taking the heat for us like this." Aria commented.

"I agree we should go down and tell Mom that it was our idea not Dad's." Harley said.

"You guys are forgetting one thing."

"What are we forgetting Liam?" the girls asked in unison.

"Grams told us to come up here so that we weren't a part of what is going on down there."

"Well FYI Liam, Grams isn't here. And we're going to help Dad. Feel free to join us." Harley said as she stood up.

Avery and Aria stood up shortly after Harley. The three girls went downstairs, leaving their brother behind on the stairs.


	50. 50

A/N1: In case you all haven't noticed yet, "Hamptons Heat" just reached the 50 chapters mark. Hope you all have enjoyed it so far. Let's see what the next 50 or so chapters have in store for our favorite duo.

A/N2: In light of the new episode of Castle that aired in the U.S. this past Monday, I would like to say this to the latest addition to the Ryan Family within the show... Welcome to the world Nicholas Javier Ryan. If you haven't seen the last episode of Castle then please disregard this Author's Note.

* * *

50

"Mom, it's not all Dad's fault." Harley said when she and her sisters joined their parents.

"Girls…"

"Daddy was only teaching us to play poker because we asked him to." Aria admitted.

"You guys should've stayed upstairs." Castle said.

"We came to help you." Avery replied.

In that moment, Kate just gave Rick a look.

"We just wanted to be like Lex." Aria chimed in.

"Thank you for your input. Your Dad and I will be upstairs in a bit to talk about this."

The girls nodded.

"Now please go up to your rooms. All four of you." Beckett said.

It was in that brief second that Liam knew that Kate knew that he was still sitting on the stairs even though he was out of sight. Once again, the girls ran up the stairs. Rick and Kate continued their discussion. All four kids went into their respective bedrooms and waited for their parents to come up.

"You have to admit that was kind of sweet of them to do that." Castle said trying to lighten the mood between him and Kate.

"It was."

Before it was time to call it a night, Rick and Kate went to talk to the kids. Eventually everyone was in bed for the night. Rick had coerced Kate into taking a shower with him just like use to do together in the early days of their marriage. It kind was Rick's feeble attempt to get Kate in a good mood in light of everything that had transpired. Thankfully Kate obliged Rick's group shower request.


	51. 51

A/N: In this chapter and probably the chapters that follow will be focused on Alexis and Phoenix due to the serious screw up that ABC Network made in regards to Stana Katic and Tamala Jones. I cannot bring myself to write about Caskett or even Esplaine in this fanfiction after the mistake that ABC made over a week ago. This mistake is also the reason why I haven't updated this fanfiction since April 14th. If you have an issue with the focus being switched then that's you're opinion.

* * *

51

A few weeks later, Phoenix's parents were celebrating their anniversary. That in turn meant the entire Matthews clan; in-laws, grandkids, other family members and family friends were gathering together to celebrate this special occasion. Alexis and Phoenix were still in the beginning stage of their marriage by the time the Matthews' anniversary came around. So around mid-afternoon on a Wednesday, Phoenix swung by Alexis's work to pick her up for their drive to the Matthews' home.

By the time, Phoenix and Alexis had pulled into the driveway at the Matthews; there was at least one other car sitting there besides the ones that belong to Mr. and Mrs. Matthews. Once they had gotten out of the car, Phoenix and Alexis could hear that the festivities had already started inside the house.

"Hello, we're here." Phoenix called out after he and Alexis walked in the front door.

Within seconds of announcing their arrival, Phoenix and Alexis were bombarded by their nephews.

"Uncle Phoenix! Aunt Alexis!" Nate and Noah said as they went into full on hug mode.

Charlie, Andy along with Charlie and Phoenix's parents followed the kids to the front of the house. The adults exchanged greetings as Nate and Noah went back to the video game they were in the middle of when Phoenix and Alexis arrived. Slowly but surely the adults made their way to the kitchen where Mrs. Matthews was cooking dinner for the family. Mr. Matthews asked his son and daughter in law if he could get them anything to drink. Alexis had said yes to a glass of wine while Phoenix said yes to a beer.

"So how's married life treating the two of you?" Andy asked.

"It's been pretty good so far." Phoenix answered.

"Better yet, when am I going get a grandbaby from you two?" Mrs. Matthews asked.

As Alexis stepped back and recalled when she overheard Kevin tell her parents about being bombarded by in-laws when it came to starting a family, Phoenix was too stunned to respond. So Charlie came to their aide.

"Really Mom? Give them a break, they literally just married."

Mrs. Matthews shook her head. "I only ask since Marco and I aren't getting any younger."

"That's true, Dahlia; we aren't, but Phoenix and Alexis are still kids themselves."

After that the conversation continued on as dinner continued to cook.


	52. 52

52

Mr. and Mrs. Matthews had the rest of the week all mapped out. With their actual anniversary on was on Sunday, the Matthews had activities in place. The day after Phoenix and Alexis got in the day before, the entire family along with the other guests partook in a baseball game. Of course the extended family that came and the family friends all stayed in a local hotel that was just down the road from the Matthews' house.

Once the activities were done, everyone had some down time to themselves. Charlie and Andy put their kids to bed before they cracked opened the books they had been reading. Alexis and Phoenix laid in bed together to watch tv.

"So where are we on the whole kids thing?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know, sweetheart."

"Do you want kids?"

"I do; you know that I do…"

"But? There's a but coming, I can tell."

"You are your father's daughter; you know that?" Phoenix said evasively.

"Phoenix."

"Alexis."

"I'm serious."

With that, Phoenix paused for a moment before he responded. Phoenix knew full well that Alexis's sudden inquiry was likely incited by his mother's question from the night before.

"Well?"

"I want kids; I can definitely see us as parents…someday…." Phoenix said.

"But?" Alexis said.

"But there is the minor detail that we've only been married for a short amount of time. I thought that we would wait a while before we started having kids."

"Okay." Alexis said.

With that, the two of them went back to watching tv when the show they were watching came back from the commercial break.


	53. 53

53

One morning during the Matthews' anniversary weekend, Alexis was in the kitchen getting coffee for herself and Phoenix when her sister in law came in to exactly what Alexis was doing. Nate and Noah were sleeping in while their grandparents had gotten up just before the sun rose in the sky to go for their daily morning walk. Phoenix and Andy were up in the bedrooms that they were sharing with their respective wives.

"Good Morning." Alexis said when she noticed Charlie in the room with her.

"Morning, Alexis."

Alexis was in the middle of pouring Phoenix's cup of coffee as Charlie pull cups out of the overhead kitchen cabinet for herself and Andy.

"So how is your family doing?" Charlie asked.

Charlie had opted to use the Keurig that her parents had to make coffee for herself and Andy. Alexis was mixing Phoenix's coffee together as Charlie put a coffee pod in the Keurig.

"They're good. Mom and Dad are working cases. The kids are busy between school and after school activities…"

"And your grandmother?"

"Grams is as always Grams. Martha Rodgers, the one-woman act."

The ladies shared a laugh after that. "How's Meredith?"

"Last I heard she had a couple of auditions lined up."

"Have you seen her since the wedding?" Charlie asked.

"Nope. She only shows up when she wants or when it's convenient for her."

"Ah okay."

There was a brief silence between Alexis and Charlie.

"It just dawned on me, are you busy the week of the fifteenth of next month?" Charlie asked.

"I don't think so, why?"

"I'm having a Scentsy party on the fifteenth at the house and I'd like you to come."

"Oh okay, well when I get back to work I will check my schedule to see if I'm available and I'll let you know."

"Okay."

With that the two ladies parted ways as they headed back upstairs with coffees in hand to their respective husbands.

* * *

A/N: For those of you who don't what Scentsy is, it is a company that came to be back in 2004 that does warmers, diffusers along varying fragrances and other things. And much like women use to sell Avon products and have Avon parties back in the 90's and other times, Scentsy is the new Avon for the 2010's since women sell and have Scentsy parties. Scentsy is my latest obsession which is why I put it in this chapter.


	54. 54

54

The weekend at the Matthews had come to an end. It was back to the daily grind for Alexis and Phoenix. When Alexis had returned to the bedroom she was in with Phoenix over the past weekend, she had told him that Charlie had invited her to a Scentsy party in a few weeks.

"Don't forget to check your schedule today, Lex." Phoenix reminded.

"I won't forget, but thanks for the reminder; love."

With that, the duo headed out for work. Right off the proverbial bat, Alexis checked her schedule. Just a second before Alexis was going to text Charlie to tell her that she would be able to come to the Scentsy party, Alexis' boss came up to her desk.

"I need you to go to out to Los Angeles to talk to a client on the fifteenth."

"Sorry, but I can't do that. Maybe you should send Claire out there."

"What do you mean, you can't?"

"I have a family thing on the fifteenth."

Alexis's boss knew that if he had pressed it any further that Alexis would throw his whole family first edict back at him.

"Okay fine, I'll see about sending Claire."

Alexis's boss left to talk to his other employee. Once she was alone, Alexis picked up her phone to text Charlie like she was going to do before.

 _Hey Charlie, I can make it to your Scentsy party. Is there anything you want me to bring?_

 _Besides yourself, I don't think so. I'll let you decide on that._

 _Okay, I'll bring the sweet and spicy meatballs we had this past weekend, I got the recipe from your mom before Phoenix and I left._

 _Sounds good, talk to you later Lex._

With that taken care of Alexis got to work. When she had her lunch break she made up a short grocery list of the things she needed to get from the corner market to make the meatballs she had just told Charlie about. Alexis was planning on stopping by the corner market on her way home that night after work. When they were both home that night, Alexis would tell Phoenix that she was going to Charlie's Scentsy party.


	55. 55

55

Alexis was walking down the hallway to the apartment after she rode the elevator up to their floor after she had stopped at the corner market on her way home that night. Phoenix had gotten home from work around 5:30 that night. When Alexis reached the front door of their apartment she heard music playing inside. As she turned the door knob the music seemed to stop. Once Alexis stepped inside the apartment she looked to see where Phoenix was, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Phoenix, I'm home. Where are you?" Alexis called as she walked over to the dining table so she could set things down.

There was no response from Phoenix.

"Phoenix, where are you?"

With that, the music started playing again. This time it was one of Thomas Rhett's _Die a Happy Man_ from 2015. Alexis heard the remote control for the iHome being set down in the other room just before footsteps hit the floor. It wasn't long before Alexis saw Phoenix who had a hairbrush in hand as a pretend microphone.

"What are you doing?"

Phoenix didn't respond, instead as Thomas Rhett started to sing over the iHome speakers Phoenix started to lip sync along.

"Oh Phoenix…"

After the song had ended, Phoenix and Alexis kissed just before Phoenix stopped the music.

"So how was your day?" Phoenix asked when they had disengaged from each other.

"It was the same as usual. My boss wanted to send me out to Los Angeles to meet a client, but I told him that I couldn't go."

"Because of Charlie's party. What did your boss say about that?"

"He was alright with it."

The two of them kept talking as they put things away and started making dinner. Both of them wanted to have a quiet evening in and that was exactly what they got. As they went to bed later on that night, Alexis and Phoenix had planned to stopped by Starbucks on their way into work the following day for their morning jolt and a bite.


	56. 56

56

The intervening time between the day that Alexis told Charlie that she would be at the Scentsy party to the actual day of the party had come and gone. Alexis had taken the day off so she could make the meatballs that she was bringing. Phoenix also took the day off of work so that he could spend time with his wife.

"Need any help?" Phoenix asked.

"Ah can you defrost the meatballs while I make up the sauce."

The party was at 6:30 that night and Alexis still had a bit of a commute to her sister in law's house. Andy was going to take the boys to a local trampoline bounce place while the party was going on. Alexis and Phoenix were up at the normal time that they would have gotten up if they had gone into work that morning.

"Okay, I'll get on that."

"Thanks."

Alexis started mixing the ingredients for the sauce together as Phoenix placed a couple dozen of the meatballs from the bag on plates to defrost in the microwave.

"So what are you going to do while I'm at this party?"

"Don't know. Maybe hang out with the guys or stay in. I haven't decided yet."

Alexis knew that Phoenix hadn't seen his guy friends from their days at Columbia in some time.

"I think you should go out with the guys. After all you haven't seen them in a while." Alexis said.

"Then I'll see if they want to do something."

"Maybe go to a Knicks game or a Yankees game."

"Hun, it's hockey season. Not basketball or baseball."

"Oh I kind of lost track of what season it was for sports once I was completely out of the loft."

"I know, but that's what you have me for."

The duo shared a kiss while they tended to things in the kitchen.

"Maybe we can take a shower or a bath together before you leave for the party." Phoenix said hopefully.

"We'll see what we can manage." Alexis said.

Phoenix smiled the widest smile that was humanly possible. It was then at Alexis knew that she had made Phoenix's day so far.


	57. 57

57

A few days after the Scentsy party at Charlie's, Alexis was out shopping with Martha. By the end of the week Alexis had her ten-year high school reunion at Marlowe Prep and she wanted to get something new to wear. She also hadn't seen much of Martha lately so Alexis wanted to spend time with her.

"What exactly are you looking for, kiddo?" Martha asked.

"I'm not quite sure. I guess something that will stun Phoenix and be appropriate for the reunion." Alexis answered.

"Okay then, let's see what we come across."

With that the women headed out to the stores. During the shopping excursion, Martha and Alexis found some dresses that were off the shoulder/corset like cocktail dresses. All of those dresses looked good on Alexis and definitely would work for what she needed but there was just something that Alexis didn't like about them.

"What don't you like about them?" Martha asked.

"I guess it's just the style of the dresses so far."

"Let me guess, you feel like they are more Katherine's style since they are off of the shoulders and they accentuate the legs too."

"Pretty much."

It was then that Alexis caught a glimpse of dress that was sitting on the return rack of the fitting room in the current store they were in that was more her. The dress was black and beige in color with an illusion neckline. It also had a stripe pattern to it with a polka dot lace overlay to it.

"Grams can you get that dress on the return rack behind you?" Alexis asked.

"Sure can." Martha said as she turned to pick up the dress.

Within seconds of getting the dress from Martha, Alexis had the dress on and knew that she had found the right dress.

"Come on out, Alexis. I want to see what the dress looks like on you." Martha called from outside the fitting room stall Alexis was in.

"Okay."

Within a minute or two, Alexis was out of the fitting room stall and Martha was instantly wowed.

"That's it."

After changing back into her clothes, Alexis bought the dress. Martha then decided to take her eldest granddaughter out to lunch once the dress had been purchased.


	58. 58

A/N1: I will reiterate what I said in the author's note at the start of chapter 51 in light of an anonymous guest review I recently got, I am focusing more on Alexis and Phoenix after ABC Network basically screwed _Castle_ over on April 18th. I do not want to reopen the can of worms that was open when ABC decided to let Stana and Tamala go, so if you don't like the fact that I am focusing on Alexis and Phoenix instead of Castle and Beckett then fine just know it maybe a while before I go back to writing about Castle and Beckett.

A/N2: This chapter is "M" rated, you will see why after reading it to the end.

* * *

58

"Are you ready to go yet?" Phoenix asked.

"Just about." Alexis replied.

"Okay, I'll be out here…waiting."

"I'll be out in a minute. Besides the reunion doesn't start for another forty minutes."

A minute or so later after Phoenix had sat down on the couch, Alexis came out of their bedroom. Just as Alexis had wanted, she had stunned Phoenix. Alexis had kept the dress in the garment bag it was in after she had purchased it so that she could surprise Phoenix with it just before the reunion.

"Do you like it?" Alexis asked.

"I like the dress… And I love the girl inside of it."

"Awe Phoenix that was sweet."

"How much time do we have left until we have to be at your reunion?"

"About thirty-five minutes, why?"

"Just gauging to see if we have enough time for something."

"Gauging what?" Alexis asked even though she had a pretty good idea of what Phoenix was aiming for.

"Gauging to see if I have time to get you out of that dress for a bit."

"Ah. Well then, let's not waste any time then."

With that said, Phoenix lit up like a kid coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. Phoenix took his wife's hand in his and led her back to their bedroom. Knowing full well that they didn't have much time, Phoenix wasted no time. The two of them started kissing as Phoenix cradled Alexis's head in his hands. Before long, his hands moved down to Alexis's dress so he could remove it. Alexis worked on unbuttoning Phoenix's dress shirt. The dress shirt came off a bit easier than the dress so Alexis started to kiss her way down to her husband's chest and stayed there for a bit. After a while, Phoenix took his turn when he decided to play with Alexis's breasts. Things quickly escalated after that like they usually did between Alexis and Phoenix.

Phoenix entered Alexis shortly after they had riled each other up. As Alexis laid on her back on their bed, Phoenix went hard with each thrust he exerted while he was inside of Alexis.

"How's that, Mrs. Matthews?" Phoenix asked.

"It's good, keep going."

Once they had finished, the duo got dressed again and Alexis fixed the other things that she had to fix. After Alexis had fixed what she needed to the two of them left for the reunion.


	59. 59

59

Alexis's high school reunion was being held at The Four Seasons in one of the hotel's banquet rooms. The people from Marlowe Prep that put the whole thing together had arranged for a dj to be at the reunion. When Alexis and Phoenix walked into the room where the reunion they were both amazed by how the room looked with all of the decorations and the enlarged pictures from the time that the class of 2012 roamed the halls of Marlowe Prep.

"Lex, look at what I found…" Phoenix said when he had come across a picture of his wife coming out of one of her classes during her junior year.

"Oh yeah that." Alexis said when she joined her husband.

"You look so cute in your uniform. Any chance you have that at home?"

Alexis knew full well what Phoenix was getting at with his question about her Marlowe Prep uniform especially in light of their pre-reunion activity.

"It's a possibility that its somewhere in the apartment." Alexis playfully teased just before they shared a kiss.

"Alexis, Alexis!" a familiar voice called out from across the room.

The person who belong to the voice that called to Alexis came over to Phoenix and Alexis.

"Hey Paige, how's it going?" Alexis asked.

"It's going good. You?" Paige responded.

"I'm doing quite good. Who's that with you?"

Alexis had noticed the tall drink of a guy that was with Paige within seconds of them coming up to Alexis and Phoenix.

"This is my boyfriend, Jess." Paige replied.

Pleasantries were exchanged before Paige asked about Phoenix.

"This Phoenix, my husband." Alexis introduced.

After that the group talked some before the festivities got underway. Paige had asked how Alexis's family was doing and Alexis had done the same. Paige had even asked about Alexis and Phoenix's wedding from a while ago. Eventually the dj started playing music and taking requests. The first song that was up was Adele's _Rumor Has It_. Once the song started playing a lot of Alexis's fellow classmates from high school were up on the dance floor either with the person they came with or by themselves.

"Do you want to dance?" Phoenix asked.

"Yeah I do."

With that, Phoenix got up from his chair and extended his hand to Alexis so he could escort her out to dance floor where everyone else was.

Hours had passed and after the reconnecting, it was time to call it a night. Alexis had called for an Uber to pick them up from the reunion.

"What are the chances of me seeing you in your Marlowe Prep uniform tonight?" Phoenix said after they were picked up by Uber.

"I think your chances are pretty good."

Phoenix was quite happy with Alexis's response.


	60. 60

60

A number of weeks after the reunion, Alexis wasn't feeling a hundred percent. When they had gotten home from the reunion that night all those weeks ago, Alexis and Phoenix had gone for another round once Alexis had slipped into her old high school reunion. The one thing that Alexis and Phoenix were hoping to wait on seemed to coming sooner rather than later. Over the past few days, Alexis started to see all the early signs, the same things that Kate had gone through twice before.

So Alexis had opted to take one of the home tests just to get an answer while Phoenix was out running errand that morning. The wait time for the results seemed like torture. When the kitchen timer went off, Alexis ran into the bathroom to see the results. The second that Alexis saw the positive results, her mind started to spin in a million different directions all at once. There was one thing that kept going through Alexis's mind and that was that she needed to talk to someone. So with that being at the forefront, Alexis threw the test out in the bathroom trash can before she gathered her things together and left a note for Phoenix.

 _Hey P,_

 _I stepped out for a while, there is something that I have to take care of. Don't worry, I'll be back before dinner._

 _Love Always,_

 _A._

Once that was taken care of Alexis left the apartment and pulled out her phone when she rode the elevator down to main floor of their building.

 _Can you meet me somewhere? I really need to talk._

Alexis waited all of a nanosecond for a response from the person she had text.

 _Yeah sure, I'm got some time. Where do you want to meet?_

 _How about Peter's Café?_

 _Okay sounds good, see you in a bit._

When Alexis got outside of the building she hailed a cab.

"Where can I take ya, Miss?" the cabbie asked.

"Peter's Café."

"Alright."

With that the cabbie pulled out into the traffic and began to make the trek up to Peter's Café as Alexis sat in the back of the cab with her mind still racing at what now seemed to be warp speed.

When the cab had reached Peter's Café, Alexis got out and paid the fare. Just as the taxi left, Alexis had spotted the person she had text before sitting at one of the tables inside of the café. Alexis wasted no time and headed into the café.


	61. 61

61

"Thanks for meeting like this." Alexis said.

"You know that I'd do just about anything for you, Alexis."

Alexis nodded as she took the open chair opposite of Kate. "So I sensed a bit of urgency in your texts. What's going on?"

"It's kind of hard to say, I'm still trying to process it."

"What are you trying to process, Lex?"

"How do I put this? Let's just say that it looks like you and Dad are going to be grandparents."

Kate took a moment to take in what Alexis had just said. "You know that it's for sure…" Beckett asked.

"Took the test before I text you and it was positive."

"Does Phoenix know?"

The conversation started to feel like an interrogation to Alexis.

"We're not at the precinct, Kate."

"Sorry, its second nature. You know that."

"I do and no Phoenix doesn't know yet. He went out."

Kate and Alexis kept talking about the whole thing after that. Alexis voiced her concerned and how they wanted to wait before they had kids. Kate advised Alexis to talk to Phoenix and to have the home test results checked out by a new test done by her doctor just to be sure. When Kate saw that Alexis was starting to calm down some she had said that she would tell Rick for Alexis and the rest of the family.

"Thanks for this." Alexis said once again when they were leaving the café.

"Anytime, Alexis. Family first; remember."

After that the ladies went separate ways. It was time for Alexis to talk to Phoenix. When Alexis got back in from the café Phoenix was home as well.

"Care to tell me what's going on, Lex?" Phoenix asked as he held up the note that Alexis had left for him earlier.

"Ah…"

Alexis took a deep cleansing breath to steady herself before she finished her sentence.


	62. 62

62

"So we're going to have a baby…" Phoenix said after he had processed everything.

"Looks that way."

There was a pause in the conversation. It was clear that they were both still in shock themselves.

"I take it that the reason why you went out was to talk to someone about this."

"Yes, I met up with Kate at Peter's Café."

"Bet she was shocked."

"She was."

"Did she help you?"

"Yes, she always does. In fact, that she told me to have another test done by my doctor to make sure that the home test was correct."

"What are you waiting for? Set up the appointment." Phoenix said.

As Alexis made the phone call Phoenix sat down on the couch and waited. Across the city, Kate was telling Rick what she and Alexis were talking about at the café. Just as she had expected, Rick was completely stunned.

Alexis's doctor was able to squeeze her in. The test was done it came time to wait for the results which would be available in two to three days. Of course that meant everyone would be high alert until Alexis got the results.

Later on that night while they laid in bed together, Phoenix turned to face Alexis.

"Hey Lex…"

"Yeah."

"I know we had said that we would wait to start having kids, but I think we're ready now."

"Oh you do, do you?" Alexis questioned.

"Yeah I do."

After that, Phoenix had fallen asleep but Alexis couldn't fall asleep as easily so she stayed up.


End file.
